Yaroslavl, part of the Golden Ring northeast of Moscow, is one of the oldest and best known cities in Russia. Located on the Volga it has a long tradition in the graphic arts industry.

One of the youngest printing houses in Yaroslavl is Polygraph Print which up to now printed exercise books and writing pads predominantly on technology from local manufacturers. Commercial products were then added to the firm’s portfolio. A new Rapida 105 with five inking units and coater has been in operation in the company’s brand-new press room since September.

The team from Polygraph Print with managing director Valery Piwovarov (4th left) and KBA sales director Sven Strzelczyk met to fire up the Rapida 105 (1)

The new medium-format press is equipped for UV mixed operation enabling the production of covers, has additional packages for handling board and foil, and is mounted on a 450mm (17.7in) plinth. Further distinctive extra features include ink-temperature control, CleanTronic Multi combined blanket, cylinder and roller washing for alternating ink systems, CleanTronic UV (facility for blanket washing with UV lamps in standby mode to eliminate waiting times before and after washing), EES(Emission Extraction System) in the delivery as well as VariDry IR/hot-air/UV dryers also in the delivery and delivery extension. Two UV interdeck dryers can be inserted at multiple docking stations in the press. Quality is controlled by ErgoTronic ColorDrive (colour density measurement), ErgoTronic Lab (colour control according to Lab values) and ErgoTronic ACR (register control). The data workflow between pre-press and press is implemented via LogoTronic CIPLinkX.

“We wanted to work with a press from the market leader in medium-format sheetfed press technology”, said managing director Valery Piwovarov when explaining why he opted for this press. Moreover, KBA RUS offers a customer-orientated and quick service. The contract for this press line was signed at China Print in May 2013.

Following a period of relatively slow market development in recent years, over the past few months KBA has once again delivered several sheetfed offset presses to Russian printers. These have been installed throughout Russia, from large industrial hubs to the countryside, with many going to southern Russia. Since the beginning of this year a Rapida 106 with eight inking units and two coaters has gone live at Grafobal in Rostov-on-Don and a similar press for printing packaging is scheduled to be delivered to a printing firm near Rostov soon. The printing industry in southern Russia is already receiving further orders in the run-up to the Winter Olympics in 2014 in Sochi. Growth in demand is expected to continue beyond 2014.