Opening speech of JV «Marko» Ltd Director general Martynov Nikolai
«Shoes are the representation of the person, and in my opinion they are the most important item of clothes. While negligence in clothes can be explained by modern fashion trends, negligence in the choice of shoes cannot be attributed to fashion tendencies. Today it concerns not only women’s, but also men’s shoes. «Clothes make the man, and shoes make the gentleman». Usually when we are looking for another pair of shoes we want that beauty and practicality are combined in it. It is very important in conditions of our changeable climate and at «extreme» roads of our country. «Marko» company had studied all problems from the inside, and taking into consideration discrepancy between «domestic» and «import» sizes (as «import» last is not designed for the «Slavonic» foot width) decided to develop the own shoe collection. Our enterprise indeed is the founder of the first and still the only factory for shoe lasts production in Belarus «Vikop-Fagus» which has become proficient in last manufacturing for Byelorussian shoe enterprises as well as for the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. We have always set the goal to produce comfortable, convenient for everyday wearing footwear. And I think that our footwear in the average price segment today is one of the best in the CIS. Our customers appreciate «Marko» shoes because of the above-mentioned qualities, and «Marko» in its turn takes care of our buyers’ trust and their emotional attitude to our brand. Such partnership and mutual attention bring mutual benefit.
For rather a small period — 17 years — Joint venture with limited liability «Marko» has become the most notable player in the Byelorussian shoe market. During these years the company has invested tens of millions dollars in development of the manufacture. At the initial stage alone more than 5 million Deutsche mark (DM) was spent to equipment purchase. 2,5 million dollars of direct investments more were given to creation of «San Marko» company which specializes in children’s shoes manufacture.
In the beginning of the production activity only several models of men’s shoes were made, monthly release was about 5,5 thousand pairs of shoes. In 1994 however 320 thousand pairs of shoes were produced, in 1995 — 540 thousand pairs. Today «Marko» company includes three shoe factories. JV «Marko» Ltd, JV «San Marko» Ltd and PC «Red October» together produce about 3 million pairs of shoes a year. JV «Marko» Ltd is supplied with more than 1 thousand units of main technological machinery and support equipment. With the growth of production new workplaces appeared. In the beginning there were only several dozens of them, now at shoe factories of «Marko» company about 2,6 thousand people work.
In 2002 the factory started production of comfort men’s and women’s house slippers from textile materials and split leather, in 2003 new type of winter shoes kind of «pants» (high fur boots) following traditions of northern nationalities appeared. In March 2005 «Marko» started production of sports shoes and leisure shoes. This line was named «Marko-sport». In 2008 new collection «Marko-boots» came into the market. Warmth as well as water- and dirt-resistance make «Marko-boots» really «off-road» shoes. They are indispensable for country walk, going out to the park or to the summer cottage, forest walks, fishing and hunting.
On the whole the collection of «Marko» shoe models is represented today by more than 1 000 samples of men’s, women’s, teenagers’ and children’s shoes made by the traditional adhesive, melting and sandal-adhesive attaching methods with the upper from natural leather. Such wide assortment is very convenient, in particular for company trade. «Marko» brand trade net is probably the largest among Byelorussian enterprises. Today in total 28 shops are located practically in all oblast capitals and large regional cities of the Republic of Belarus. In Minsk alone during a little more than one year four trade enterprises were opened. During March and April 2005 two «Marko» trade centres were opened in Brest. In the first half of 2006 a shop in Mogilyov was opened. In perspective «Marko» is going to cover all Byelorussian cities with population over 20 thousand people by its trade net. «Marko» is going to work in the Russian market by the similar scheme. In 2005 two «Marko» brand shops were opened in Moscow. In the next months the company brand shop will be opened in Smolensk. But the most significant project will be the opening of a trade house of Vitebsk oblast in Moscow. Area for construction of it is already assigned, and project work has already started. It is planned that the total area of this object will be about 7 thousand square metres. And all financial expenses concerning design and building of this trade house will be incurred by «Marko» company. Annual release and successful selling of about 3 million pairs of shoes a year enable «Marko» company to keep the strong leadership not only among Byelorussian, but also among all other manufacturers of these products in the post-Soviet territory.