Kommersant learned about the suspension of the Candy consumer electronics plant in Kirov

On April 17, Candy, a manufacturer of household appliances, suspended the work of a plant in Kirov. About it informs Kommersant, citing an unnamed local official. The information was also confirmed by a source close to the company.

According to the official, the reason for the decision was overstocking, lack of demand and an increase in the exchange rate. In particular, because of the latter, the company lost 15% of its profits, he said. The interlocutor added that the situation was also affected by the appearance on the market of cheap equipment from Chinese and domestic manufacturers.

The Ministry of Industry of the Kirov Region claims that the Vesta plant (100% owned by the Italian Candy Hoover Group, the parent company of which is the Chinese Haier Smart Home) is operating normally. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation did not respond to the newspaper’s request. At the same time, the commercial director of Holodilnik.ru Alexey Pogudalov also confirmed the suspension of the shipment of Candy equipment from the Russian plant.

According to the top manager of one of the large retail chains, the main reason for the suspension of the Candy plant was the lack of control over final prices. He explained that the company does not have its own distribution, and the prices are set by the stores themselves, which put them lower “to attract a client.” The interlocutor expects that the plant will resume work by the summer, after the sale of warehouse stocks.

Another interlocutor of the publication on the market noted that Turkish household appliances factories Arcelik in Lipetsk faced the same problems (produce refrigerators and washing machines Indesit, Beko, etc.). Because of this, the company decided to reduce the cost of final products by 16% to ensure capacity utilization. The source added that Arcelik has not yet launched production in Russia by 10%, but thanks to the measures taken, “there is a chance to reach the maximum,” he admitted.

According to Holodilnik.ru, in February, sales of refrigerators in Russia in pieces fell by 42%, to 196,000, and in money terms – twice, to 7.1 billion rubles. Sales of washing machines also decreased: in units – by 67%, to 249,000, and in money terms – by 42.6%, to 7.4 billion rubles. In particular, sales of Indesit and Candy fell by 26% and 13%, respectively.

The Candy factory is located in Kirov. The number of employees is 546 people, and its capacity allows the production of more than 2,000 washing machines per day, according to the Vesta website. The plant is mass-producing 192 models of washing machines and washer-dryers. Key brands are Candy and Hoover. It is specified that Candy household appliances have been produced at the plant since 2005. In 2018, the company was taken over by Haier Corporation.