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 Company History
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| Background |
The four founders of Quattrogemini Ltd have worked together on construction projects in Russia since the 1970s. In those days Finnish contractors used to form special joint ventures for the execution of large government contracts signed with Soviet State Companies. Later, the same companies have built commercial and industrial facilities for western investors in major Russian cities.
At the birth of a new era in Russian history in the early 1990s many Finnish contractors took a pessimistic view on the market, and old co-operative structures were dissolved. Lasse Alanne, Veli-Pekka Henttonen, Matti Sajomaa and Markku Virtanen, however, had other thoughts. They believed that the economic downturn would soon be over, and that foreign investments would start to increase rapidly. So, the four partners established a new company, Quattrogemini Ltd, to serve the construction needs of foreign investors to Russia and its western neighbours.
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| Getting started |
The first contracts were signed in June 1995 with Chupa Chups and McDonald’s. In addition to projects in Moscow and St. Petersburg, co-operation with McDonald’s covered all Baltic countries, as well as Minsk in Belarus and Kiev in Ukraine, where the company opened registered offices. Contracts more than 40 MUS$ in value were completed within the first three years, all of them outside Finland, and the staff of the company numbered 70.
The Russian rouble was devaluated in 1998, and foreign business in Russia came to a halt. At the same time, the construction market in Finland was picking up. A domestic subsidiary, Rakennusgemini Ltd, started operating in and around Helsinki, and accounted for the major part of Quattro Group´s turnover during the next two years (26,8 MUS$ in 2000). Consequently, when no new contracts were at sight, the offices outside Moscow, St. Petersburg and Tallinn were gradually closed by the end of 2001 along with the completion of the projects at hand.
Back home in Finland the company incorporated its mechanical and electrical services contracting department by the name of Quattroservices Ltd. The new subsidiary made a profit right from the beginning, and has contributed greatly to our overall capability of estimating and executing design-build projects ever since. |
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| First major contracts |
The Russian market recovered in 2001, and soon after that Quattrogemini was assigned its biggest contract until then. General Motors – Avtovaz joint venture entrusted us with a job worth 27,5 M€. The construction of a new car assembly plant was completed in a record time of just 11 months in Togliatti, Russia.
There was more to come, as we started working with Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC), a subsidiary of Shell, in 2003. The cost and fee contract for the construction of giant concrete gravity base structures for LUN-A and PA-B offshore production and drilling platforms, which belonged to the Phase 2 of Sakhalin II oil and gas project, finally totalled 300 M€ in value during the three years of implementation. The work included the excavation of a 1.2 million m3 dock near the city of Nakhodka in the Russia Far East. Casting of the two caissons was done by slipform technique. It took a multinational workforce of well over 2000 people 10 months to work in three shifts. The job was completed by June 2005. The structures of 60,000 m3 of concrete and 30,000 tons of steel were towed some 1000 nautical miles to their final destination, where they were put in the bottom of the east coast of Sakhalin Island. |
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| More factories, logistics and shopping centres |
In 2004 and 2005 Quattrogemini’s turnover was nearly 200 M€, out of which over 90% came from contracts in Russia. Engineering News Record ranked the company as # 93 on the list of Top International Contractors. The profitability of the company was found one of the best among construction companies in Finland.
Besides the Sakhalin project Quattrogemini continued to work in St. Petersburg and Moscow areas. The contracts concluded in 2004-2006 included the earthwork for Toyota’s new car assembly plant in St. Petersburg, the expansion of British American Tobacco’s production and logistics facilities in St. Petersburg and in Saratov, and the extension of production facilities and new offices for Coca-Cola in Moscow.
The Finnish Stockmann Group chose Quattrogemini to be its construction partner when continuing its entry to the Russian market. The projects executed in super-tight schedules (3-shift work) included: Mega One (South), Mega Two (North) and Mega Three Department Stores, and a logistics centre in Moscow, as well as over twenty fashion outlets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizshni-Novgorod and Jekaterinburg. Towards the end of 2006 new sites were opened for a dairy and customer service center (Valio) and for a polymer dispersion plant (Finndisp) in Moscow area.
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| Future prospects |
After having completed the demanding Sakhalin project successfully, Quattrogemini’s turnover in 2006 fell back to the level prevailing before Sakhalin. However, the balance sheet of the company was much stronger, operations in the domestic field were growing steadily with good profitability, and a number of new projects to Russia were about to start. Therefore, the target of 150 M€ for turnover in 2007 is realistic.
The company has worked out a new strategy for the period 2007-2010. We are involved in several partnership arrangements with international firms having confidence in our expertise in designing, planning and implementing the construction part of their projected investments in production facilities in Russia. Many of these firms represent major project opportunities in such strategic key market segments as pulp and paper, car manufacturing, food and beverage and building materials industries.
We have more resources in search of suitable plots for industrial and commercial purposes both in Finland and in Russia. We continuously develop the range of services offered to cover all stages of a building project from pre-investment studies to maintenance period.
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