Eight East Midlands companies met with UK Trade & Investment's (UKTI) top man in Moscow, Damion Potter, Head of UKTI's Russia team, at a special event in Castle Donington this week.

Damion, who is based in Moscow, gave information to keep the companies up to date with the Russian market.

Sly Filters, a Leicester dust filtration specialist firm who rely on Russia for over half of their export trade, Minden Systems, a Northamptonshire firm who have scooped their first order in Russia and Sutton in Ashfield firm Mitchell Powersystems, who are set to service up to 40,000 American Freightliner trucks in Russia after winning the tender to take on the Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) franchise, were among the companies at the event.

Sly Filters Ltd, based on the East Goscote Industrial Estate, are currently working on the expansion of a large factory in Volgograd alongside ongoing jobs in St Petersburg.

·   Minden Systems Ltd, of Daventry, employ six people to produce their giant sized dust extraction systems for car body shops. They have now won an order worth £12,500 after securing Russian distributors. And will be meeting with Damion to find out how to further develop their business in Russia.

Mitchell Powersystems Ltd have already taken on one new member of staff to add to their current 185 employees nationally, with 85 based in their Fulwood Industrial Estate HQ, and jobs could be created over the coming months locally, as the business grows. Alongside the work in Russia, using local operators and dealers to service the trucks, they will also be responsible for looking after the parts supply and technical support of trucks in Europe, the Middle East and in the majority of Africa. The specialist engineers employed by Mitchell Powersystems fly out to these counties to support local dealers and operators with technical support and training.

Linus Ridge, Managing Director of Sly Filters, said:

"We have successfully traded with Russia for ten years but it's vital to keep up to date to remain successful and Damion Potter has the insider knowledge from being based in Russia. 

"Researching the markets we export to properly - Overseas Market Information Service (OMIS) reports from UKTI are invaluable, helping us decide whether a market is right for us and how we can capitalise on it, and constantly keeping up to date with what is happening in the country.

"From our experience our advice would be: research the market properly - OMIS reports from UKTI are invaluable in helping us to decide whether a market is right for us. Build up good relationships first to ensure a lasting business relationship.

"And give people what they want - keep it simple. We won one contract for over half a million in Russia as the owner of the firm had seen some Swiss coffee machines built into the office furniture of a London office. He told me we could have the order if I could get him 50 of those coffee machines. So I flew directly to Switzerland, placed the order and sent them - you have to go the extra half a mile, be flexible and give people what they want."

Damion Potter, who heads up UKTI's team in Moscow, hopes the example of companies like Sly Filters, Minden Systems and Mitchell Powersystems, will help push other firms into taking advantage of the opportunities available in Russia. 

Damion said:

"Setting up business in Russia offers some great opportunities.

"By speaking to business leaders across the country I'm hoping to dispel some of the myths and share UKTI's knowledge and expertise of what it's really like living and working in Russia, and set out how we can help companies to expand their business in this market.

"The UK now has a huge presence in Russia, with over 600 companies there. This includes many household names from across all sectors, who have made strong connections and prove that it is possible to succeed and flourish in competitive overseas markets."

The Russian Government have recognised the need to modernise the economy and infrastructure producing an urgent need for international expertise and products.  Plus after a downturn the Russia economy is making a strong recovery and exports to October 2010 are up by 46% for the same period last year.

There are many opportunities for firms including Advanced Engineering, Financial Services, ICT, Power/Energy, Sports & Leisure Infrastructure - particularly for the 2014 Winter Olympics and now the 2018 World Cup, Airports, Construction, Creative Industries, Rail and Water.