Russia: Eurocement has started an initiative to reduce its reliance on spare parts purchased from outside of the country. The programme is designed to start a phased transition to in-house production of components. One of the first examples of the scheme has been the development and installation of a clutch for a mill at the Sengileevsky cement plant.

The cement producer hopes to source at least 90% of the parts it requires domestically. At present it says that around 30% of the equipment used in the local cement sector is imported. The estimated economic effect will be around Euro14m.

The company has also announced an unscheduled indexation of staff wages to over 7000 workers at 16 cement plants. Indexing of wages is typically used to compensate for inflation. Other measures have also included food support. Vyacheslav Shmatov, the general director of Eurocement, said ““We have decided to increase our support measures for our employees during this difficult time in order to strengthen our work teams. Eurocement is, first of all, people, so the company will continue to take care of its employees.”

International economic sanctions were implemented upon Russia by European and North American countries in response to its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.