Burning sun, sand and dinning powerful engines are the features stuck in one’s memory to recollect Construction Day, which AMACO held for its employees and the press, and representatives of various building and commercial organizations…

It was the first Construction Day held in Ukraine. The organizers had planned it to demonstrate the capacities of new building machinery “in battle.” Two brands – New Holland and Iveco, the official representative of which is AMACO -- were on display. The event being reasonably considered a real show, at least a few words should necessarily be said about how exactly excavators, bulldozers and trucks “were playing their muscles.”

As the venue for the presentation, AMACO chose the village of Prolisky, Kyiv oblast. A huge sand hill with paths going down at very big angles towered in the center of the construction site, which had been specially adjusted to receiving guests. According to our estimate, the angles were of 60-70 degrees. In other words, all the necessary conditions had been created for specialized machinery to show its strong points, and drivers demonstrated striking stunts. Certainly, specialized machinery constituted a majority, but quite a number of trucks were presented as well: dump-trucks, mixing trucks and prime movers. One of them also won the sympathy of spectators with its diligence on the sandy “podium”: definitely, the attempt to put Iveco Trakker on two wheels, as with a New Holland bulldozer, failed, but it climbed the steep hill with a cargo in its body in quite a convincing manner.

One should not be an expert to realize that AMACO’s management hopes to get repaid with interest for the expenses on arranging that large-scale publicity event. “It is no secret that construction will become a priority for Ukraine for the coming four-to-five years, and in particular in view of preparations to the 2012 European Soccer Championship. Since the time left until this event is passing away, while very many facilities have yet to be built, the only right way out is to employ advanced technologies and new machinery, which will make it possible to implement construction projects in a quality and efficient manner over a short period of time,” Vitaliy Skotsyk, director general of AMACO, pointed out.

“Ukraine’s geopolitical location at the crossroads of transport corridors from Europe to Asia and our state’s aspiration for integration with the European community suggest certain obligations, and in particular require our motorways and railroads to meet European standards,” Mr. Skotsyk went on. “Apart from transport links, Ukraine needs to build up infrastructure: filling stations, hotels, restaurants and other facilities. That is why the demand for building machinery and commercial vehicles will be constantly growing.” AMACO’s Director General illustrated demand growth by the example of his company: sales growth has been some 300% in recent years. Last year – 308%, and this year there are plans to reach the 300% mark. As far as Iveco trucks are concerned, AMACO began to work with this brand just half a year ago, but Mr. Skotsyk stated his satisfaction with automobile sales. The company plans to open a maintenance center to keep truck sales stable. “It will be the most up-to-date center for maintenance of commercial vehicles. According to our estimate, it will be put into operation in October next year,” Vitaliy Skotsyk said. He added that if everything went smoothly, there would be five-to-seven such centers in Ukraine in a couple of years. AMACO’s Director General also pointed out that leasing was becoming increasingly popular among commercial carriers: the company sells some 70% of Iveco automobiles using this financial instrument.

Festivities began with greeting speeches by AMACO, Hew Holland and Iveco officials. “Iveco is the biggest international corporation, which employs 25,000 people,” said Riccardo Cusano Our trucks are well known almost all over the world. Recently, we signed a new agreement with AMACO, and we are convinced that we will achieve much in Ukraine in joint efforts.” Some time later it became possible to ask Mr. Cusano how he evaluated his company’s achievements on the Ukrainian market. That is what he answered: “We have been selling our automobiles in Ukraine for many years, and we offer now the whole variety of Iveco vehicles – from light vans to large-tonnage trucks. Currently, our sales are at some 500 vehicles per year. We began to cooperate with AMACO not long ago, and we are very pleased with this partnership. We hope that in the nearest future we will be able to increase our share of the Ukrainian market, a priority market for Iveco. It is the reason why we have presented Iveco Trakker, which we consider to fit local conditions best, today.”, manager of Iveco for CIS. “The company’s plants are situated on many continents, we produce vehicles weighing from three to 70 tons.

At the end of the event, journalists and all the guests were invited to experience what an ease and pleasure it is to handle builders’ iron assistants. The organizers were persuading that even a person having no special training could effectively employ machinery. Indeed, some guests did it quite smoothly. However, we think that this is thanks to not only New Holland’s ergonomic characteristics but also long-term familiarity with the control levers of similar machinery. As regards to how much the show in fact impressed potential buyers, this will become evident from AMACO’s sales.