After one year of operation, Matador Omskšina - a joint venture of the Slovak tire producer Matador located in Púchov and a Russian company - is operating less efficiently than expected. The joint venture started mass production on February 24, 1996, and now employs 309 people. It has financial problems, mainly a result of general insolvency in Russia, and an exceptionally high tax burden.
This year, Matador Omskšina plans to produce 500,000 tires, of which 150,000 will be sold to the Russian car maker VAZ in Togliati. It also plans to complete capacity expansion to 1.1 million tires annually, extend the production line from 4 to 14 types of tires, and improve efficiency in order to at least break even.
