John Deere is using the CTT show in Moscow to announce two new Russian dealers and affirm its commitment to growing the Russian and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) markets — continuing a presence that dates back to the 1880s and the company's first sales in the country.

The dealers, UST (Universal Spetstechnica), based in Moscow, and ACT (Agro-Construction Technologies), based in Krasnodar, will together cover much of Russia. UST's territory will be the Central, Urals, Siberia and Volga Federal districts of Russia, while ACT will represent the Southern Federal district of Russia.

UST is already well known in the forklift and industrial equipment arena. ACT, which has also been a John Deere agricultural dealer, will service Sochi, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

"Both of these organizations share the John Deere commitment to selling and supporting equipment that gives customers outstanding productivity, maximum uptime and low daily operating costs," said Domenic Ruccolo, senior vice president of Sales & Marketing, John Deere Construction & Forestry.

"These customer needs are universal — they know no one language. We are pleased to partner with UST and ACT and serve those who work on Russia's infrastructure and natural resources." Ruccolo said. "Together with our dealers, we will meet and exceed their expectations."

A Long History

John Deere has a long history of agricultural and forestry equipment sales to Russia. In the late 1920s, the company sold Russian customers a significant number of plows as well as its famous Waterloo Boy tractors. In 1928 to 1932 alone, Deere exported 8,187 tractors to the Soviet Union. Tractor sales in 1930 accounted for nearly 10 percent of the company's total sales.

Deere has served the forestry market in Russia for over 30 years. In 2002, Deere opened a forestry sales branch in St. Petersburg, and an agricultural sales branch office in Moscow followed, which currently supervises a network of 11 dealers located throughout the country's key farming regions.

John Deere (Deere & Company — NYSE: DE) is a world leader in providing advanced products and services for agriculture, forestry, construction, lawn and turf care, landscaping and irrigation. John Deere also provides financial services worldwide and manufactures and markets engines used in heavy equipment. Since it was founded in 1837, the company has extended its heritage of integrity, quality, commitment and innovation around the globe. John Deere Construction & Forestry produces more than 120 machine models and distributes its construction, forestry and worksite products through a network of more than 1,300 dealer locations worldwide.