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| HISTORY |
The general partnership
"ZEBRA" was founded 1929 with the
objective to produce linoleum. While this project was not
realized, the factory started with the production of different
other rubber products.
Zebra JSC has been registered with order ¹ 137/1932 of the
Sofia County Court on July 15, 1932.
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| In December 1947, the enterprise was nationalized
by the government. In 1991, with the start of the democratic
reforms ZEBRA was transformed into a Single
Person JSC wholly owned by the state. Taking over the trade
activities, the Company found promising markets for its products,
initially on the Balkan Peninsula, and later successfully expanding
the sales to the European market. |
A procedure for privatization of ZEBRA
started 1997. The contract for sale of 75% of the Company’s
capital was signed 1999. Seven hundred and twelve former and
present employees of ZEBRA AD became shareholders.
By the end of 2003, the employees already owned 100 % of the
company’s shares. The production portfolio of ZEBRA
includes: wrapped v-belts, technical rubber sheets and floorings,
superelastic and press-on solid tires, rubber goods, rubberized
rollers, filtering gas masks, NBC protective clothing, wide
range all-rubber and rubber-metall goods. The company is the
only producer in Bulgaria for most of the above-listed goods.
The production is based on technologies worked out and elaborated
by Zebra's experts.
The export takes about 60-70% from all sales, and the tendency
is for its further growth. The products are intended mainly
for the markets of the EU states and USA. |
| The main competitive advantage of our company
is in the innovation process through development of new products
and continuous improvement of the existing ones. |
Since the beginning of
2003, a program for the comprehensive control of the effective
use of raw materials was introduced. New recipes for rubber
goods were developed, new manufacturing facilities were put
into operation while the old ones have been renovated and
refurbished. The results led to a decrease in the regulated
technological scrap. In the summer of 2003, a system for monitoring
and control of the energy consumption was introduced. This
helped for a better power management and set up the basis
for the creation of a long-term energy efficiency program.
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As compared to Year 2001,
our prognosis is for an increase in the production by 67%
by Year 2005. This goal will be achieved trough:
(a) introduction of new products;
(b) increase in sales because of the excellent price/quality
ratio; and
(c) gaining of new market shares in Europe, and the United
States, and regaining lost
grounds on the Bulgarian and Russian markets. |
Zebra AD is shareholder
in two joint ventures. The first one, "S.I.S.A.S. ZEBRA
International", established in 1996 between Zebra AD
and the Italian company “S.I.S.A.S. Segnaletica”, was set
up for the manufacturing of rubber-made products for horizontal
road marking.
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| A second joint venture between ZEBRA
AD and the Austrian company “Gummiwerk Kraiburg” for
production of precured treads for re-treading of heavy truck
tires was started in November 2001. It is located in the Sofia’s
district of Iliyantzi on a site which was previously owned by
ZEBRA AD. |
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