Just as the mechanics at the Bosch Car Service in Kaliningrad are tucking into their breakfast, their colleagues in Chabarovsk, in the Far East, are already thinking about dinner. Between the two locations lies a distance of over 8,000 kilometers, as well as 2,650 Bosch associates in more than 50 locations. Last year, they generated total sales of 913 million euros (all figures including Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine).

The first Bosch sales office was established in 1904 in St. Petersburg, which at that time was still the capital of Tsarist Russia. Even in the Soviet era, a wide range of products was still marketed through the company’s liaison offices.

Today, Bosch is one of the country’s leading foreign investors, with a financial commitment that only few other German companies can surpass. Despite the current recession, Bosch expects significant impetus for growth to come from Russia Russia and its neighboring countries in the long term. With its strong local presence, it is already well positioned to take full advantage of this development.

The main regional centers are in Engels on the southern Volga, where large plants produce automotive components and power tools, in Moscow (administration, aftermarket), and in St. Petersburg (refrigerator production, research).

Anyone accompanying Russian ST sales manager Alexander Rimskiy on his travels through Moscow can quickly get dizzy. Rimskiy points out examples of Bosch technology here, there, and everywhere. The Church of Christ the Savior sits in golden splendor on the banks of the Moskva: “Bosch public address system,” says Rimskiy. The Kremlin? “Conference technology for the State Palace.” The “Evropeiski” shopping mall, one of the largest in the world? “An integrated security solution for a total floor space of 320,000 square meters.” The White House, seat of the Russian government? The airports? And the Hotel Ukraina in 1950s wedding-cake style? Rimskiy nods. And smiles. Bosch is there too.

In the heart of downtown Moscow, just a stone’s throw from Red Square, is the most prestigious of all Bosch ST projects in Russia. Shrouded in tarpaulin, one of the world’s most famous stages – the Bolshoi.

A comprehensive renovation project has been under way at the 180-year-old theater for a number of years, and it is now being equipped with state-of-the-art security technology. “We are supplying 5,000 fire alarms, more than 400 cameras, PA technology, the associated control units, and all the software,” says Rimskiy. Once completed, all this will be virtually invisible. “Everything blends perfectly with the architecture,” he says. Smoke alarms are concealed in the gleaming golden stucco, and cameras are attached as inconspicuously as possible to the historic façades.

The highly professional ST team has plenty of experience with national cultural treasures. St. Petersburg’s Hermitage, one of the world’s principal art museums, relies on Bosch security technology.

Now, Rimskiy is looking forward to the grand reopening of the Bolshoi. “My entire family loves opera and ballet, and there’s no better venue than the Bolshoi – especially for Russian works.”

In Russia, it is exactly 9,577 kilometers by road from the most westerly Bosch Car Service location in Kaliningrad to the most easterly in Chabarovsk. There are 400 additional Bosch plants in between (including Belarus, the Ukraine, and Kazakhstan) – and the network of branches is being expanded steadily.

To ensure that the quality of the Bosch workshops remains consistently high across all the different time zones, Bosch has now substantially expanded its Moscow Training Center for mechanics and other workshop professionals.

“Each year, some 2,000 automotive professionals attend courses here and then return to the four corners of the country, taking the current state of technology with them,” explains Grigori Rouzavin, director of the Moscow Training Center.

Sergei Butakov, who has already traveled twice from Kasan to attend courses at the center, agrees: “This keeps me constantly up to date with diesel systems,” explains the Tatarstan-based mechanic. Other participants have a special interest in the latest diagnostic systems, or the very latest in automotive electrics.

There are also training center branches in St. Petersburg, Kiev, and Novosibirsk, among other places. Owing to the immense distances involved, some courses are also offered as video conferences, and there is a telephone hotline in the training center to deal with queries. “This allows us to assist the workshops with their day-to-day operations,” says Rouzavin, “ensuring that every Bosch Car Service location in Russia can provide prompt and reliable assistance.”

Russia’s giant realm: it extends for thousands of kilometers from west to east, and its 140 million inhabitants live in 11 time zones. And the number of Bosch locations dotted across the wide map of Russia is steadily increasing.

“The benefits of our proven marketing systems are particularly apparent here,” says Rene Schlegel, general manager of Bosch in Russia. He believes there are excellent opportunities for green Bosch technology in a huge country like Russia. “There is plenty of space here for wind parks and geothermal installations, for solar plants, or for thin-film technology, where having plenty of inexpensive space is more important than tropical solar radiation,” Schlegel says. He adds that this is, of course, viewed from a long-term perspective.

But with 12 divisions in the region already, Bosch is well represented. The range of products and services on offer includes modern automotive technology, efficient household appliances and heating technology, industrial and packaging technology, and power tools. Last year, the 2,650 Bosch associates in the country generated total sales of 913 million euros (all figures including Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine).

The largest Bosch plant in the country is located in the city of Engels. Here, around 1,300 associates manufacture components such as spark plugs, wiring harnesses, and fuel rails, most of which are sold to Russian customers.

Admittedly, the region has not escaped the recession unscathed, and Bosch sales, too, have fallen. In the long term, however, general manager Rene Schlegel believes Russia is a market with good future prospects. “This country will remain one of the world’s principal economies, and the entire region will become more and more important.” When it does, Bosch will be well prepared.

The Robert Bosch Stiftung also plays an active role in Russia: it has been promoting Russian-German relations since the beginning of the 1990s. It develops programs of its own and supports exemplary projects in the areas of international exchange, politics and civic society, dialogue with the media, language and intercultural training, vocational training, healthcare, and welfare.

Examples include support for the Foundation for German-Russian Youth Exchange, the Lectureship program of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the German-Russian Dialog Baden-Baden, and the “Border Crosser” grants for authors.