WYG International managed one of the most complex and successful technical assistance programmes implemented in Russia. The Tacis Enterprise Restructuring Facility Phases 1 and 2. This major initiative which was implemented in more than 50 enterprises in 30 different Oblasts was launched in 1998 to provide advisory services to enterprises. In Phase 1 restructuring contracts were agreed with 22 enterprises, selected from 96, which entered the initial pipeline. The assistance provided covered the full spectrum of restructuring activities including business process engineering, benchmarking, export promotion, marketing, credit, logistical considerations, financial planning and investment, and management organisation.

The TA provided was tailored for each enterprise and implemented through leading sector experts many of whom had ‘board level’ restructuring experience with similar Western European companies. The selected enterprises covered a broad range of industrial sectors including chemicals, construction materials, textiles and machine manufacture. A 20% enterprise contribution to costs was required from enterprises, though this level was temporarily reduced over the summer of 1998 in the face of the financial crisis in Russia. A wide variety of services were supplied, with an average cost of Euro 180,000.

The project involved promoting the restructuring facility, enterprise diagnostics and selection, delivery of consulting services – almost always together with local consulting agencies – and wide dissemination of the results. These have included workshops and seminars held for industrialist; and workshops and large scale conferences held under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy to develop policy implications including the need for regulatory reform/change to support specific industrial sectors.

The demand generated by enterprises during TERF I and the value of what it achieved, led to funding of TERF 2. In Phase 2 33 enterprises received advisory services.

A dedicated web site was set up to describe in more details the aims and achievements of this project. Follow this link to access the site.