PRESS: Toshiba axes Russian retail division on weak ruble

MOSCOW, Dec 14 (PRIME) -- Japanese technological corporation Toshiba has dismantled its division for sales of TV-sets and kitchen appliances in Russia because of the ruble rate fluctuations and an intense market competition, CEO of the Russian business Toshiba Rus Hiroaki Tezuka told business daily Kommersant in an interview released Monday.

“We have fully left the Russian retail market…we sold all goods already last December when there was a sales peak,” the official said, referring to shipments to distributors and retail chains, which can however continue to sell the Toshiba tools now.

Toshiba will retain its business-to-business segment, he said; now it has orders from Sberbank, postal service operator Russian Post and power engineering company Power Machines.

The Russian consumer electronics market contracted 11.2% on the year to 55 billion rubles in July–September, according to a report by GfK. But Tezuka said that Korean companies have a 70% share on the TV-set market, which makes the competition too hard for Toshiba.

(69.1755 rubles – U.S. $1)

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