Philips and Optogan work together to promote LED solutions in Russia

Royal Philips Electronics, the world leader in lighting solutions and Optogan, the leading manufacturer of LEDs and lighting technologies based on them, have announced a joint venture (JV) for the production of LED lamps and intelligent systems for street and road lighting, RUSNANO press release reports.

The new company plans to take a leading position in the rapidly growing Russian market of road lighting. Philips company will own 51% of the joint venture, and 49% will belong to Optogan.

Established company allows to combine modern LED solutions in road lighting and international standards of quality of Philips' innovative technologies and Optogan’s knowledge of the Russian market.

Joint venture products, produced on Optogan Tallinn site will be delivered to the markets of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Philips and Optogan partnership aims at the development of Russia's LED industry, which is one of the key areas in the state program of energy conservation and energy efficiency. The change for road and street lighting based on LEDs can reduce electricity consumption up to 80% and optimize the cost to operate the equipment. In addition, LED lights improve visibility on city streets and highways, which significantly increases the safety level on the roads.

The joint venture with Optogan announced today will be the first step toward our ambitious goal of becoming a key player in the Russian street lighting market - said Arjan de Yongste, Philips CEO in Russia and CIS. - We believe that the Philips and Optogan parttnership will enable us to bring innovative solutions in lighting to Russia: they help save energy, reduce maintenance costs and improve road safety. These solutions are designed to make people's lives better.

Optogan Company is one of the technological leaders in the production of high-brightness LEDs. Through the use of advanced and energy efficient solutions in the production of high brightness chips, LEDs, LED lamps and intelligent lighting systems, we can offer the market products with the best price-money proportion - said Maxim Odnoblyudov, the Optogan company president. - We thoroughly understand all the features and requirements of the Russian market. And together with Philips, we create a company that will offer our customers solutions having no analogues in Russia.

The road lighting market based on LEDs in Russia is one of the most attractive and dynamic. It is projected that over the next four years it will double, and by 2015 its capacity will reach € 100 M. The rapid development of the market is driven largely by government program to upgrade road lighting, due to which, by 2015 the share of LED lighting will reach 50%.

(In the photo (from left to right): Christophe Charlier Francois, Assistant Director-General of ONEXIM Group, Chairman of the Optogan Board of Directors of; Anatoly Chubais, Chairman of the RUSNANO Board; Maxim Odnoblyudov, the President of Optogan; Arjan de Yongste, the Philips General Director in Russia and the CIS, Peter van Berkel, head of Philips Lighting solutions in Russia and CIS).