OREANDA-NEWS. September 20, 2011. Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with Open Joint Stock Company Power Machines, Russia's leading supplier of power generation equipment, on the establishment of a sales and manufacturing joint venture company (JV) for power transformers in Russia.

The JV will construct a manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg, Russia's second city, that will start operation in the second half of 2013.

In Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union*1, growing electricity consumption and the need to replace aging equipment are driving the installation of new substation equipment. As a result, the market for power transformers is expected to grow from approximately USD 1,100 million in 2010 to approximately USD 1,500 million USD in 2015.

Power Machines, a leading manufacturer of turbines and generators with extensive supply experience, primarily in the former Soviet Union, today enjoys a market share of approximately 70 percent*2 in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Toshiba has entered into the joint venture with Power Machines in order to enhance its transmission and distribution (T&D) business in the former Soviet Union and to secure a stable production base in the region.

Toshiba and Power Machines will respectively hold 49.99% and 50.01% of the JV. The JV will manufacture and sell power transformers in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Toshiba is building a global T&D business and is seeking to secure a particularly strong presence in emerging markets that can expect further growth. Towards this, Toshiba has recently reinforced its presence in the South American and Southeast Asian markets, and it will continue to seek out new business opportunities in these and other markets.

*1 CIS, Georgia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
*2 Source: Power Machines