HVAC market of Omsk

According to agency “Litvinchuk Marketing” the share of Omsk region is 13,5% of the market of split systems of Siberian Federal district. In Russia such a market is considered to be semi-formed. Dynamic of sales in the following (outdoor units): 1999 – 1100 units; 2000 – 1600 units; 2001 2200 units; 2002 – 2500 units; 2003 – 2800 units; 2004 – 3500 units; 2005 – 4800 units. Companies from Omsk estimate the sales in 2006 year of 5000 – 7000 units.

Volume of the market of central air conditioning and ventilation systems of Omsk is 11,5% of the volume of the market of Siberian Federal district. Dynamic of sales in the following (price for end user): 2002 – 4,4 million of euro; 2003 – 5,7 million of euro; 2004 – 6,7 million of euro; 2005 – 7,3 million of euro. Structure of the HVAC market and consumption level of air conditioners per person in Omsk are surprisingly close to average fugures in Russia, and resemble the fugures of such industrial developed cities as Chelyabinsk, Perm, Izhevsk, Nizhniy Novgorod. At the same time the absolute volume of sales of splits in Omsk is lower than in other Russian cities with population of 1 million people.

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE REGION

Strong continental climate of Omsk

Summer in Omsk is hot – up to 30 – 35 C. Winter is cold – up to – 35 – 45 C, and with little snow – 25-30 centimeter. The climat is dry: average annual level of precipitations is 1,5 – 2 lower than in central districts of Russia. Hot winds, which cause siccation of soil, are not rare in the first part of summer.

Population: number, revenues, education

Economy

INSUMERS OF HVAC EQIUPMENT IN OMSK

Despite Omsk is one of the liders in mass – construction of residential buildings in Russia, there is almost no construction of luxury housing, which is the main consumer of HVAC equipment. The most popular among retail consumers brands belong to the low and medium price groups. At the same time there are under construction some complexes of living houses in the suburb Stargorod. This construction needs heating and water supply systems.

More important for HVAC companies is the market of corporative customers. Construction of commercial and entertainment centers is very active in Omsk. There is a joke that there would be three commercial centers per capita in the city soon. Recently in Omsk were constructed and commissioned some commercial centers, administrative buildings, auto shops with show rooms, auto service centers and centers of telecommunication. A residential building equipped with central air conditioning system was constructed on Irtyshskaya embankment. Some plants were commissioned recently, among them were the Factory for production of metal barrels and polycarbonate bottles, and the Omsk oil processing plant. Under construction and reconstruction now are some theatres, court-houses and factories in Omsk and Omsk region.

The issue of construction of hyper-markets “Ikea”, “Metro” and covered skating rink is under consideration.

The main building contractors are usually big construction holdings, many of them are not residents of Omsk. Main corporative customers are big real estate developers and the Administrations of Omsk and Omsk region. There is a trend of forming of big holdings, which run the whole complex of works from design to commissioning “turnkey”.

PLAYERS OF HVAC MARKET

There are 7580 specialized HVAC companies in Omsk. About 40% of them deal with both RAC, PAC and industrial equipment, about 60% – only with RAC. 1015 companies are big. Among them “Ecoterm” (has the best position at the corporate market), “Rusklimat” (has the best position at the retail market), “Inzhenerstroyproyekt”, “Komfortland”, “Ventmontazh”, “Omskkonditsioner”, “SoyuzLiL”, “Glas”, “Kroma-service”, “Mangazeya mikroclimat”, “Lisko-Inzhiniring”, “Teplotekhnicheskie sistemy”.

There are representative offices of GRUNDFOS (without stock), “VEZA” (without stock), DANFOS (without stock), AIRWELL (with stock), “Sovplim” (with stock) in Omsk.

In the field of design are engaged serious specialized institutes, who work in Omsk and nearby regions (North of Tiumen region) since the Soviet period.

Trade nets are active in Omsk. Among them are “Eldorado”, stores of brands LG and Samsung, “Electronnyi ray”, “Set electra”, “Teletext”, “Association Siberia”, retail nets “Sibvez” from Novosibirsk and DOMO from Kazan. Professional HVAC companies of Omsk assess their activity in different ways. Some consider that they do a lot of problems for professionals, other say they are of little harm. At the same time their common opinion is: these stores offer not only traditionally poor installation work, but the quality of their equipment is not the best one. It is also reasonable to notice that in the Omsk market you can encounter with the equipment of famous HVAC brands with unknown origin. There are also some local manufacturers of the climate equipment in Omsk: “Sibkriotekhnika”, “Omsk factory of ventilation components”, PO “Irtysh” and “Oktan”, plant “Vzliot” and some others.

Among professional associations and groups which deal with the construction market in Omsk, there are: regional representative organization of APIC (“Ecoterm”, “Komfortland”, “Inzhenerstroyproyekt”), “Association of construction professionals”, “Omsk regional association of industrialists”, Omsk chamber of trade and industry, “Association of construction professionals of Russia” (rather new organization).

MAIN HVAC BRANDS IN OMSK

According to assessment of players of HVAC market of Omsk, the following HVAC brands are well known in Omsk:

• RAC – LG, SAMSUNG, BALLU, DAIKIN, MITSUBISHI HEAVY, FUJITSU GENERAL, MIDEA, GREE, KENTATSU;
• PAC and industrial air conditioners – MITSUBISHI HEAVY, DAIKIN, CARRIER, FUJITSU GENERAL, McQUAY, GREE, LG, BALLU, PANASONIC, MIDEA;
• multizone systems – DAIKIN, MITSUBISHI HEAVY, FUJITSU GENERAL, WESPER, MIDEA;
• chillers and fan-coils – CARRIER, McQUAY, DAIKIN, CLIVET, TADIRAN, INDUSTEH, ROYALCLIMA;
• ventilation equipment – OSTBERG, SYSTÅMAIR, SHUFT, KORF, “Veza”, SILAVENT, VENTREX, “Arktos”, WESPER;
• heat curtains – “Tropik”, “Teplomash”, FRICO, PYROX, “Meteor”, BALLU;
• boilers – Ferroli;
• air humidifiers – BONECO AIR-O-SWISS, SCARLETT, BALLU, CAREL;
• heated floors – CEILHIT;
• water heaters – AEG, ELECTROLUX, “Termex”;
• oxygen concentrators and air cleaners – DAIKIN, MITSUBISHI HEAVY, GREE, BONECO AIR-O-SWISS;
• air dehumidifiers – GREE, MITSUBISHI HEAVY, AERIAL.

COMMERCIAL AND ADVERTISING ACTIONS IN OMSK

“Week of construction professionals of Siberia” takes place in Omsk in May annually, exhibition “Stroyprogress” is held within this action. There is a special section of ventilation, air conditioning, heating and water supply at the exhibition. To put it frankly, the number of participants there is not very big (especially when compared with Novosibirsk).

A number of interregional meeting takes place under the name “We build the city”. Within these actions are held presentations and seminars on new technologies and equipment of inside construction of buildings, and among them seminars on HVAC equipment. The Third meeting took place September 13, 2006.

Exhibition “Formula of Comfort” was held in October 2006. Manufacturers and suppliers of HVAC equipment regularly held their seminars: about 200 people attended the seminar of DANFOSS on heating systems; seminars on the climate equipment were held by DAICHI, KORF, “Euroclimate”, VTS CLIMA. Local companies (“Inzhenerstroyproyekt”, “Ecoterm”) also organize seminars for customers and designers.

DIFFICULTIES FOR HVAC BUSINESS IN THE REGION

The first difficulty is an economic one. It is the lack of investment into construction business of Omsk. After the oil company “Sibneft” was sold, there remained only few big enterprises in Omsk. This affected the local budget dramatically. Construction of municipal objects of Omsk is frozen or under financed. Low income of population does not support the development of climate business either.

The second difficulty is a personnel one, it is connected with the lack of qualified professionals in ventilation and air conditioning. Many design organizations got used to working in the old fashion, they are very suspicious about new technology and equipment.

The third difficulty – unfair competition. Non-professional companies appeared, and they make problems. The number of companies, who only declare that they belong to the climate business, is about 100 – 150. The main activity of such companies is price dumping. Some companies mislead customers during tenders, they bring the price down offering climate equipment with insufficient power. Besides, there are only few companies in Omsk, who are able to provide good service and maintenance of equipment.

PROSPECTION

HVAC companies, nevertheless, see the future of the market optimistically. They note the expansion of the market and some changes in its quality: the increase in the volume of the sector of industrial equipment; progressing replacement of obsolete equipment; increasing development of automatic systems of control and monitoring of buildings; development of the market of gas equipment due to gasification of the region under way.

At the same time, consolidation of serious HVAC companies in Omsk region is evident. Also registered the process of specialization of small companies in installation of RAC equipment. Customers start to use multizone systems and central air conditioning systems in design of new commercial centers, office buildings and luxury blocks of flats, instead of traditional split systems.

Detailed information about HVAC market of Omsk, interviews with executives of Omsk climate companies you would find at the website of APIC: www.apic.ru.

Editors of the magazine “The World of Climate” acknowledge the help and assistance of the top executives of the Omsk based companies – members of APIC, Georgiy Litvinchuk, Information agency HVACNEWS and personally:

Serguey Ovchinnikov, PhD, Director of OOO NPF “Ecoterm”:

“Our company is in the market of climate equipment since 1993. Now we offer the full set of service, ranging from design of the project and delivery of equipment to maintenance. We can offer a complex approach to the objects of customer – organization of all engineering systems and communications, automation. Our main achievement in this year: delivery and installation of the first in Omsk central air conditioning system (chillers + fan-coils) in residential building; equipping the workshops of “SUN Interbru” with ventilation system; equipping the operation room of the Omsk Oil Processing Plant with air conditioning and ventilation systems. More, “Ecoterm” is one of the first regional companies, who took part in international specialized exhibition “World of Climate” in 2005 and 2006. And we are going to continue to participate in it”.

Igor Ustinov, Director of “InzhenerStroyProyekt”:

“Our company initially was organized as a company who could offer full cycle of service in the field of engineering systems, turnkey service. We have in our stuff designer-engineers, experts in sales of engineering equipment, production and installation division. Now we work exclusively with the projects of our own design. These days we are accomplishing the installation of air conditioning systems on the base of VRVII DAIKIN and ventilation system in the buildings of “Omsk-Bank”, installation of the central conditioning system “chiller – fan-coil” in luxury residential complex “Staraya Kriepost”. We are the first company in Russia who installs automatic system of incoming air supply OXIGEN, we install such equipment built into the heating system of the office complex OAO “Chkalovskiy”. We also carry on engineering part of the project of the modern bread-baking plant”.

Valeriy Miryuk, Director of OOO “Firma Comfortland”:

“The history of company “Comfortland” started in November 1995. That was the time when we had to explain people what did the words “split – system” mean, and installation of such a system was an event which could rise the prestige of the owner up to the sky. Since then lots of things changed. The only thing that remains the same, is the principle of high quality work and eagerness to satisfy the maximum of necessity of customer in both installation and maintenance, and to do it accepting full responsibility.

Besides air conditioning company “Comfortland” actively develops such directions, as ventilation, ion air cleaning, built in vacuum cleaners, heat equipment, monitoring equipment”.

Igor Balov, acting as the Head of representative office of “Rusclimat”:

“Rusclimat” is the only HVAC company in the city, which has a well developed retail net, consisted of several climate stores. We are proud of our annual achievements because we expand our business very dynamically and follow our mission. We have already fulfilled the majority of our tasks for this year: we have increased the sales volume in all segments of the market; we have introduced special program for retail customers – discount cards, it gives us possibility to prolong our work with these customers. We have enforced the engineering department with professionals, and it allows us to increase our share of the market of engineering service. We have opened the Internet representative site. The main strategic goal of “Rusclimat” in Omsk is to achieve the leading positions in retail, corporative and dealer segments”.

THE OPINION OF EXPERT

In the climatic area where Nizhniy Novgorod is situated, air-conditioner is not the thing of high priority. Air-conditioners are installed mainly in offices. The use of conditioners in the living sector is not wide-spread, and there is no prospective that the situation changes in the nearest future. The potential of the market of split systems in the city of Omsk and the region is 8000 – 10000 units per year.

The Omsk region in 2005 was on the same level with Novosibirsk region, Kemerovo region, Irkutsk region and Krasnoyarsk district from the point of view of the revenue level. In 2006 the local budget could be reduced practically twice because the Head Office of Sibneft was moved to Sankt-Peterbourg. It would affect the whole market of HVAC equipment, and first of all the market of central air conditioning systems and ventilation systems.

The qualification level of specialists of the climate business of Omsk is considered to be one of the highest in Russia. The engineering decisions, which they offer, are distinguished with the professionalism and originality, so the companies from Omsk often work outside the region also. In this matter Omsk could be compared with Perm, Nizhniy Novgorod, Ekaterinbourg and Sankt-Peterbourg. In comparison with other cities with a million population, in Omsk are only a few of big business structures, who specializes in the work with split systems. Only two companies sold in 2005 more than 500 splits – they are “Ecoterm” and “Rusclimat”. There are only two evident leaders at the market of ventilation and central conditioning systems – “Ventmontazh” and “Ecoterm”. Besides the companies already mentioned – “Ecoterm”, “Rusclimat” and “Ventmontazh”, companies “InzhenerStroyProyect”, “Novy Climat”, “Omsk Konditsioner”, “Comfortland”, “Mangazeya”, “Rinko”, “Soyuz Lil” and “Lisko” are visible in Omsk.

If consider the development of the market, it should be taken into account that three summers running were cold in Omsk in 2002 – 2004. The market of the room splits had poor development because of it, their share of total sales went down in 2002 and 2003. In 2005 the weather pleased HVAC professionals for the first time in many years, and the market of splits responded with 37% growth.

Georgiy Litvinchuk, Director of the company “Litvinchuk Marketing”