OREANDA-NEWS. On May 29, 2007 Amtel-Vredestein N.V. (LSE: AMV), a leading European tyre producer and Russia’s largest manufacturer of passenger car tyres announced that it has begun test production at the new factory at its Amtel-Chernozemye facility in Voronezh — months earlier than previously announced, reported the press-centre of  Amtel-Vredestein N.V.

By the time the factory is completed, the company plans to invest a total of approximately $124 million in Voronezh, including new equipment, tooling, molds, production planning and management systems, etc. as well as construction and renovation of buildings and utilities at Amtel-Chernozemye to support the expansion.

"Voronezh II is a milestone project and the last major investment in an aggressive multi-year program to dramatically expand our production and distribution platform, as well as transform Amtel-Vredestein into a modern producer of premium passenger car tyres", said CEO, Alexei Gurin. "We promised our shareholders we would reshape the company to ensure sustainable growth. And, with the addition of Voronezh II, we will achieve this goal".

The company will start with production of its Amtel tyres. Once new rubber mixing equipment is installed by December, the company expects to commence production as planned of Vredestein and Maloya tyres for export to Europe, as well as for domestic distribution.

The new 44,000 square meter facility is modeled after the Company's Vredestein Banden plant in Enschede, Holland and was designed in cooperation with the company's Dutch engineers.

Voronezh II will be among the most technologically advanced tyre factories in Europe. It will initially produce approximately 2,5 million passenger car and light truck tyres per year, which could be expanded up to 4,1 million tyres per year with additional investment. This would ultimately bring the total annual capacity at Amtel-Chernozemye to over 7 million tyres.

Amtel-Vredestein N.V. is a leading European tyre producer and Russian number one passenger tyre manufacturer. The Company sells passenger car tyres under the VREDESTEIN, AMTEL, MALOYA and TAGANCA brands manufactured at its facilities in Enschede, Netherlands; Kirov, Moscow and Voronezh, Russia. The company's AV-TO subsidiary is Russia's number one automotive retailer and the leading tyre and auto parts distributor.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. This press release may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Amtel-Vredestein N. V. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, which is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that cannot be predicted with certainty. Accordingly, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Amtel-Vredestein N.V. does not intend to update these statements to reflect actual results.