In 2002 Tikkurila completed a major reorganization in Poland. For the decorative paints business, i.e. Alcro-Beckers and Tikkurila Paints, a new company was established, known today as Tikkurila Polska S.A. All of the paint production and R&D now takes place at Debica in southern Poland, and the administration is also handled from there. Sales and marketing are the responsibility of the Warsaw office, and the central warehouse and logistics center are located at Lodz.
Tikkurila Coatings continues its operations in Poland under its own name, although some operations are being carried out at Tikkurila Polska’s premises. The sales office for industrial coatings still remains in Szczecin in northern Poland, but production and the warehouse have moved to Debica.
Akzo Nobel Coatings' general industrial finishes business in the Nordic countries and Poland was acquired by Tikkurila in 2002. The next year saw the same happening in Hungary.
In the UK, Tikkurila Coatings Ltd moved in 2003 to a single site operation in West Bromwich, near Birmingham. Two years later the company was divested. Later in 2005, Tikkurila's coil coating business was sold.
A new training center – "Paletti" – was completed in Vantaa (Finland) in 2003. The center is a natural continuation of the company's long-standing training-course activities and, on the other hand, a response to the wishes of both customers and employees. Tikkurila's export operations were also badly in need of training facilities. Currently, most of Tikkurila’s operation countries have similar training centers.
From the beginning of 2004 Tikkurila Services Oy (a service provider within the Tikkurila Group) was merged with the parent company Tikkurila Oy. In 2008 Tikkurila Paints Oy and Tikkurila Coatings also merged with Tikkurila Oy.
In late 2004 Tikkurila took another step eastwards by acquiring a majority stake in a paint producer in Kyiv, Ukraine, and acquired the remaining stake two years later. Exports of paints and coatings have been made to Ukraine since the beginning of the 1980s.
In 2004 Tikkurila started to simplify its Group structure by combining its industrial coatings companies and decorative paints companies in the Baltic States and Hungary.
Russian market leader 2006
In February Tikkurila acquired the Russian paint company OOO KRASKI TEKS, at the same time achieving leadership in the growing decorative paints market in Russia. Tikkurila now had four decorative paint plants in the country, along with several regional warehouses and an extensive distribution network.
In July Tikkurila acquired the remaining stake in the paint producer Kolorit Paints Kyiv, Ukraine, and changed the company name to TOV Tikkurila.
In September Tikkurila went deeper into the East. The sales company TOO Tikkurila was established in Almaty, Kazakhstan for marketing decorative paints in the rapidly growing markets of Central Asia.
At the same time, an importer, later renamed Tikkurila s.r.o., was acquired in Prague, the Czech Republic.
A step into Asia 2007
Gamma logoIn April Tikkurila acquired a 70% share in two St. Petersburg-based paint companies, and the remaining 30% stake two years later. OOO Gamma Industrial Coatings is among the leading producers of metal industry coatings in the country. OOO Tikkurila Powder Coatings produces and markets powder coatings under its own OHTEK brand.
In May Tikkurila took the final step in entering the Asian market by establishing a sales company in Beijing. At the same time Tikkurila acquired the importer CEIEC-Feelings. The following year a sales office was established in Shanghai, mainly for the marketing of Tikkurila's industrial coatings.
In August Alcro-Beckers sold its 50% stake in the Swedish filler-producer Scanspac to Gyproc AB. Alcro-Beckers can now focus its efforts purely on paint manufacturing.
New production plant in Sweden 2008
In January the subsidiaries Tikkurila Paints Oy and Tikkurila Coatings Oy merged into their parent company Tikkurila Oy. This brought an end to the division into five different companies dating back to 1997. Tikkurila CPS Oy was sold in 2000 and Tikkurila Services Oy merged into its parent in 2004.
After more than 100 years of operating in Lövholmen (Stockholm) – Alcro-Beckers’ paint production was transferred in February 2008 to a new plant, fully integrated with the existing logistics center, in Nykvarn, some 40 km from Stockholm. A fully automated facility will support the company’s target of selling only water-borne products. A month later, Alcro-Beckers’ head quarters and Tikkurila Coatings AB moved to Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm.
In March Tikkurila Oy received the Brand Builder of the Year award from the Finnish Association of Advertisers. Special attention was given in the selection to the fact that Tikkurila has created added value in its marketing communications in the form of services to consumers, and consistently adhered to its chosen brand world.
In May, Tikkurila established a trading company in Bucharest, Romania, jointly with the Slovenian JUB.. Later Tikkurila acquired the remaining 50% stake in the company.
In August, the sales company IP Tikkurila was established in Minsk, Belarus, with responsibility for both decorative paints and industrial coatings.
In December 2008, Tikkurila acquired a sales company in Slovakia, later named Tikkurila Slovakia s.r.o.
Tikkurila continued its Group structure simplification process by merging its three decorative paints companies in Russia at the end of December. The companies now operate under the common name of OOO Tikkurila.
More input into Russia 2009
In February a new logistics and service center in Mytishchi near Moscow was opened to take on the challenges offered by the strong growth and increasing demand in the Russian paint market. The center also houses facilities for extensive customer training, which is an essential part of Tikkurila's marketing. All Tikkurila operations in Moscow are now located at the same site.
In May Tikkurila acquired the remaining stake in two St Petersburg-based paint companies. OOO Gamma Industrial Coatings is a producer of metal industry coatings and OOO Tikkurila Powder Coatings is a producer of powder coatings.
Since June all of Tikkurila’s Baltic companies formerly called Tikkurila-Vivacolor are known under the name of Tikkurila. The change is part of the Tikkurila Group's structure simplification process started in 2004.
In the same month the Swedish subsidiary Alcro-Beckers AB became the first company to receive the Nordic Ecolabel – known as the “Swan" – for its exterior paints. Two years later, five new Nordic Ecolabels were granted for Alcro and Beckers interior and exterior paints.
In August Tikkurila acquired the Slovenian company JUB’s stake in the Romanian joint venture and owns 100% of the company, now renamed Tikkurila SRL.
In September, Tikkurila launched its new Avatint tinting system based on the latest innovations in colorant and pigment technology; the system also observes the more stringent regulations related to volatile organic emissions (VOCs) from paints and coatings. The Feel the Colour selection and Visio shop-in-shop concept were launched simultaneously. The novelties have been introduced step by step in Tikkurila’s various countries of operation.
ObukhovoIn December modern production lines for water-borne paints opened at Obukhovo, St. Petersburg. This compact, semi-automated facility, based on Western technology, allows very flexible production.