Russian Chemical Co. bought exclusive rights to manufacture and market Rikos products, one of the countrys oldest grease brands, the company told Lube Report.
Moscow-based chemicals producer Russian Chemical Co. (RCC) bought the license to market Rikos products from Rostov Engineering Lubricants Producer earlier this year. Last month our company resumed production of the lithium-based products such as Litol-24, Ciatim-201 and Ls-1P, company spokesman Nikolay Kochurkov told Lube Report. Under the license, our company acquired the whole intellectual property of Rikos, and no other enterprise is [allowed] to use the Rikos trademark.
Instead of being produced in Rostov-on-Don, the former location of Rikos plant, the finished products are now manufactured in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, where RCC has its own 8,000 tons per year grease manufacturing facility.
Litol-24 and Ciatim-201 are multifunctional greases for aviation applications, and for radio-electronic components and installations that are specifically used in the severe climate of Russias extreme north. Thanks to the quality of our products and good logistics management, we started to ship greases not only in Russia, but in Ukraine, Armenia and Kazakhstan as well, the company said.
RCC also recently became an official distributor of the Belgian Wolf Oil motor oil products in Russia. Belgium, Antwerp-based Wolf Oil Corp. annually produces around 55,000 metric tons of motor oil.
Rostov Engineering Lubricants Producer, or Rikos, was one of the oldest and biggest grease marketers in Russia. It was established in the times of imperial Russia in 1894 under the name Lubricant and Bitumen Production Plant. In 2008 it held around 17 percent of the countrys grease market, but its position diminished by 2011, when it held 12 percent of the countrys 45,000 tons grease market, according to the Moscow-based consultancy InfoMine.
Beside greases, RCC also produces chemical and polymer raw materials and lube additives.