November 3, 2003 -- KBA has set up a new sheetfed and web sales and service subsidiary, KBA RUS, to serve Russia and Belarus. The announcement was made on 30 October at a reception during the PolygraphInter trade fair in Moscow. An upgrade of our Moscow representative office, the new subsidiary is run by managing director Vladimir Andreyevich Melnichuk, who worked in the Ministry for the Printing Industry for many years before becoming a web press salesman. One of his first moves will be to enlarge the sales force, especially for web and commercial presses. Sven Strzelczyk, who headed the representative office, is the new sales director, while Bernd Rumann retains his function as service director and head of the St Petersburg outlet. He, too, is planning to hire additional press operators, electricians and mechanics to expand installation and service activities. More branches are planned in the south and east to enhance customer proximity. Sales of KBA presses in Russia more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2003, with the CIS (headed by Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan) moving up to fifth place in our global sheetfed sales league. Demand is mounting among Russian printers for cutting-edge printing and process technology and unusual press configurations. One of the biggest KBA sheetfed presses shipped to date – a Rapida162 six-colour press with two coaters, two inter-unit dryers and a delivery extension – has been in action for eighteen months at Lunapak in Dnepropetrovsk (Ukraine). A Rapida 142 with the same configuration will come on stream in November at upmarket food packaging specialist PURT in Moscow. It will be the company’s second big Rapida and includes the 3,000th large-format printing unit to roll off KBA’s production line since 1995.