Markinvest Oy, experienced specialists in Russian trade
A COMPETENT, RELIABLE AND RESPONSIBLE PARTNER FOR YOUR COMPANY
Markinvest Oy has been providing sales and marketing consultancy to its client companies for more than 35 years. For the first ten years, Markinvest operated in its home base in Finland. In the 1990s, its home base expanded to Russia. Today, Markinvest is an undisputed expert on Russian trade and trade culture.
Markinvest Oy was founded in 1985 to train salesmen of investment products to achieve better results faster, i.e. to help the company’s salesmen become top sellers. Very soon, the founders of the company, Pekka Peltonen and Sinikka Karstila, realized that the real need for help for potential client companies, was in training for planned marketing and in consultancy. Customers also had a clear need to get help in the company’s overall communications area, for which Markinvest Oy’s own subsidiary Tulosviestintä Oy was established with Tarja Malinen as a communications consultant.
Markinvest Oy served export companies by helping them gain access to and succeeding in new markets. European integration put pressure on companies to internationalize, and the break-up of the Soviet Union opened up a whole new market area – Russia. Soon, Markinvest focused on three business areas: marketing, overall communications and starting and developing a business in Russia.
At the turn of the year 1993/1994, the company established itself as a local company in St. Petersburg, where ZAO MarkInvest SPb was founded, and then in 1995, in Nizhni Novgorod. Today, Markinvest is an undisputed expert in Russian trade and culture, as well as having expertise in local prospects.
Online in Russia
As the turn of the millennium approached, the emergence of the Internet changed the world. Since 1999, MarkInvest has helped Finnish companies to understand the Russian- language Internet and to utilize it in finding contacts to start exporting and developing their businesses. Among other things, the company developed Russian-language websites for Finnish companies and the first websites for Russian companies.
Many Finnish companies felt themselves to be too small to be able to provide their goods to Russia. In 2002, Markinvest developed an online marketplace with the aim of involving Finnish companies in projects of overseas companies. Promotion of the marketplace was focused towards Europe and brought results.
As we entered a new decade, an online store selling children’s shoes and clothes was established in Russia.
Certificates required by the customs union
Russia has changed and Markinvest’s product base has grown. The Customs Union in the East bloc was created in 2010 and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in 2015. Today, Markinvest helps Western products penetrate the EAEU market. Certification has been a natural addition to the product portfolio, as almost everyone who wishes to gain entry to the Russian market needs a certificate for their products.
The customs union requires products to be certified: they must be inspected and verified that they meet EAEU requirements. Eurasian Economic Union certificates differ from those in the West and therefore product conformity must be proven according to the
requirements of the market area. Certification ensures that the product is safe to use and is not hazardous to health.
Finland lives on exports – but companies thrive on trade!
Markinvest Oy’s experts are experienced marketing and business developers, your reliable partners when you want to develop your exports and business in Finland, Russia and Kazakhstan. Markinvest Oy complements Team Finland’s internationalization services with its own special expertise. We promote international business development and growth, we help Finnish and Russian companies to succeed in Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland and other countries.
MarkInvest will continue to work to be a competent, reliable and responsible partner for our customers and associates. In the future, growth will be sought through online networking as well as offering services to new market areas.