Russian roads will be stretched through China
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A new leasing company (LK), Avtodor Leasing, controlled by GPB Leasing, will be upgrading the Russian fleet of road construction equipment (DST). The company must provide the road industry with road construction equipment from friendly countries, mainly from China. Previously, up to 80% of machinery and equipment in this segment came from European suppliers. The initiative should allow infrastructure projects not to be frozen, but may lead to limited competition in the leasing market.
GPB Leasing, a subsidiary of Gazprombank PPP Infrastructure, and Avtodor presented the Avtodor Leasing project, in which the parties will receive 51%, 23.9% and 25.1%, respectively. The task of the new leasing company is “to ensure the centralization of purchases in friendly countries of equipment necessary for the construction and road industry, and optimal financing conditions,” explained Maxim Kalinkin, CEO of GPB Leasing. According to him, this is necessary to maintain the pace of road construction.
The company will be able to provide leasing of up to 7,000 pieces of equipment, including items that have no Russian counterparts, at a preferential rate, added Avtodor’s first deputy chairman for investment policy, Igor Koval. “The government signed an act providing for special conditions for lending to a new company — setting the maximum amount of a subsidized loan to 120 billion rubles. and a subsidizing period of up to three years,” he explained.
The leasing industry was among the most affected by sanctions pressure: the segment not only faced financing difficulties, but also a shortage of leasing items (see Kommersant of May 28 and May 31). According to Expert RA, for the first half of 2022, the volume of new business of leasing companies decreased by 19%, to RUB 770 billion.
According to GPB Leasing, the needs of the Russian economy in road construction equipment for 2022-2024 exceed 31 thousand units. The cost of the necessary imported equipment for 2023 alone is estimated at 120 billion rubles. According to Artur Gasparyan, head of the special equipment department of Alfa-Leasing Group of Companies, earlier the share of European brands in the total sales volume in this market was 80%. Now small amounts enter the country through parallel imports, and this share has decreased by 40%. The share of foreign equipment in the parks of Avtodor contractors is 80-90%, Mr. Gasparyan specified.
According to Alfa-Leasing, in the first quarter of 2022, South Korea was the leader in the supply of wheeled excavators and heavy tracked excavators, 60% and 40% of the total share, respectively. Medium and small excavators were supplied by China, 70% and 33%. Great Britain (44%) was the leader in deliveries of backhoe loaders. Hydraulic mini-excavators (up to 10 tons) were supplied by Japan (78%). Tracked/wheeled pavers – Germany and Japan (65% and 17%).
“The main suppliers of Avtodor Leasing will be the largest Chinese manufacturers — SDLG, XCMG, Zoomlion, Sany, SEM. But there are no restrictions on countries and brands: the key task is to provide the need with reliable equipment. LK does not exclude the financing of domestic construction and road equipment on the terms of preferential leasing,” says Maxim Kalinkin. Delivery time for the equipment offered by Avtodor Leasing is three to six months.
Other leasing companies are also interested in working with road construction equipment. Today it is one of the most attractive segments, says Vyacheslav Mikhailov, head of the car leasing business development department at VTB Leasing. Alfa-Leasing also plans to increase its share in this segment, although the company fears that the creation of a joint venture between GPB Leasing and Avtodor may complicate competition in the market. “Avtodor and its contractors are among the main corporate users of DST products on the Russian market. Whether they will be limited in the choice of a financial partner remains a mystery, explains Artur Gasparyan. “If this happens, it will negatively affect both the leasing market and fair competition.”
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