Know what is required
You should get well-informed in advance —that is the advice of KommR Ing. Franz Bamberger, the Eastern Europe/Russia officer of the Presidents Group of the Austrian Standards Institute, for all those who want to succeed – just like he did – in the markets of Russia and Eastern Europe.
Vienna (AS prm, 2011-10-04)
„If you know the standards, you know what is required. Especially in economic relations with Russia, standards are of great importance. And therefore, you should get information in advance“, recommends KommR Ing. Franz Bamberger to all enterprises who want to go East and enter the markets of Russia and the CIS region.
Mr Bamberger, who has been extremely successful as a „small countryside stonemason“ – as he modestly describes himself – since the 1980s, knows what he is talking about: „The products must comply with standards there, and this has to be evidenced by certificates.“ If you do not have certificates or the product differs from the standards, you are in trouble. The lorry is stuck at the border until a valid certificate is submitted. This again may result in further delays.
Therefore – according to Mr Bamberger, who has been vice-president of the Austrian Standards Institute for many years and Eastern Europe/Russia officer of the Presidents Group since June 2011 — you need to familiarize yourself with the requirements and obtain the relevant certificates. These relate mainly to Russian GOST standards, but increasingly also to British BS standards because numerous foreign architects, especially from the US, are active in Russia today who use standards drawn up in English.
»Kreisky is to blame.«
The managing partner of Franz Bamberger Steinmetzbetriebe that include a total of five companies and around 100 employees already started his business activities in Eastern Europe and Russia before the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. „Then Federal Chancellor Kreisky is to blame,“ he says with a wink in his eye. In the early 1980s. the first projects funded by Kontrollbank were implemented in Hungary and then in Poland where small companies were able to ride along as subcontractors of big Austrian construction enterprises and gained a foothold in the East.
In concrete terms, this meant: establishing contacts to a financially strong client base and offering stone and marble for banks, hotels and increasingly private homes. Today, Bamberger’s focus is on Russia and specifically Moscow where stone has a certain tradition so that the company now also has its own administrative office in Moscow.
- Credit: ASI prm
Prefabricated products are still manufactured in Austria, the project supervisors are from Austria, too, and the material itself comes from all over the world. When asked why he ventured into the markets of the East and Russia, Mr Bamberger refers to his curiosity and taste for adventure, but also states that „when you want to grow as a medium-sized Austrian company you have to expand to other markets. Austria is too small for that. And in this context, the countries of Eastern Europe and then Russia simply were a natural choice.“
Useful hints
In addition to the good advice of familiarizing oneself with the standards and certificates required in future markets, Opera buff Bamberger, who speaks a little Russian himself, is fluent in Serbo-Croatian and travels to Moscow approximately every six weeks, has a few more hints for entrepreneurs wishing to succeed in the East and Russia: „You have to adjust, you need to get to know the mentalities and habits, which no longer include the cliché of Vodka drinking sessions. Then you will also discover many similarities.“ At any rate, sound craftsmanship is in high demand, adds Bamberger, who highlights Austria’s excellent reputation in this field.
Many countries still have to catch up especially with regard to crafts and the training of skilled workers because, during Communist times, the focus primarily was on industry rather than on crafts. The Czech Republic and Poland already realized that thorough training is required for these occupations and that the crafts are an economic factor. In this context, Austrian companies also have the major task of transferring know-how if they want to promote craftsmanship and skills. SMEs are of special importance in this respect.
CEN membership of Russia?
To Mr Bamberger’s regret, European standards do not really play a role in Russia yet. This will probably only change if — according to his wish — Russia becomes a member of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) or at least moves closer to European standardization. „You need to ‘embrace’ Russia further in order to achieve common solutions that go beyond the existing Memorandum of Understanding between CEN and GOST.“ After all, one thing is clear for him: „If you want a globalized economy, there is no way around finding a common international language for trade. And that’s what standards are.“
