John Deere last week added two new dealers in Russia. The dealers, Universal Spetstechnica, based in Moscow, and Agro-Construction Technologies, based in Krasnodar, will together cover much of Russia. UST's territory will be the Central, Urals, Siberia and Volga Federal districts of Russia, while ACT will represent the Southern Federal district of Russia.

UST is already well known in the forklift and industrial equipment arena. ACT, which has also been a John Deere agricultural dealer, will service Sochi, the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

“Both of these organizations share the John Deere commitment to selling and supporting equipment that gives customers outstanding productivity, maximum uptime and low daily operating costs,” said Domenic Ruccolo, senior vice president of Sales & Marketing, John Deere Construction & Forestry.

“These customer needs are universal — they know no one language. We are pleased to partner with UST and ACT and serve those who work on Russia’s infrastructure and natural resources.”

John Deere construction product offerings from UST and ACT in Russia will run the gamut, including the skid steers, backhoes, and four-wheel-drive loaders, graders and dozers. Seven K-Series loaders and two articulated dump trucks will also be introduced to the market, as they have been in North America.

“All machines are John Deere-powered units and will be introduced from now into 2010,” Ruccolo said. “They feature tried and true John Deere designs but have features unique to the Russian market, including cold weather start packages.”

In 2008, Deere signed an agreement with the Russian government and local authorities to invest approximately $80 million in a central operations center, which includes a distribution center for replacement parts and a training facility in the Kaluga region, 38 miles southwest of Moscow.

In its initial stage, the 98-acre facility in the Kaluga region will accommodate a 322,000-square-foot replacement parts distribution center, a training facility for dealer personnel, including a product demonstration site, and a whole goods distribution facility. In 2005, Deere established a manufacturing and assembly facility for seeding equipment in Orenburg.

Headquartered in Moline, Ill., John Deere is a global provider of advanced products and services for agriculture, forestry, construction, lawn and turf care, landscaping and irrigation.