Rosegate Technology Group finds new frontiers in Russia - business opportunities - Company Profile

In 1992, David Uible, President of Cincinnati-based Rosegate Technology Group, turned to Russia in search of new markets for Rosegate's used medical equipment business. "Since healthcare was a priority of their government, we felt there was definitely opportunity for us if we could just get our foot in the door. However, we quickly learned that expertise in exporting and good ideas are not enough to crack the Russian market."

Rosegate received what it termed "a tremendous boost" from participating in a U.S. Department of Commerce trade mission to Russia in October 1992. On a four-city tour, the delegation met with Ministry officials, hospital directors, and others involved in purchasing, manufacturing, or providing medical products and services. "That mission was the catalyst for our subsequent success," Uible said. "At every level, business in Russia is based on personal contacts. With Commerce's help, we were able to make those contacts." Through the mission, Uible met Savely Bashinsky, the young cardiologist whom he eventually hired to oversee Rosegate's Russian operations.

On his third trip to Russia, Uible accompanied Dr. Bashinsky to the offices of the journal Kardiologia to buy advertising for Rosegate's equipment. Then Uible sensed further opportunity: "The editors had never actively sought advertising. Their funding had been cut, and they were struggling just to remain in print. But there was no reason for this journal to be in trouble. It's the premier journal for Russian research cardiology, with a vital readership. I knew there were Western medical manufacturers who would love to have access to this market." At a follow-up meeting, Uible offered to buy the journal itself from the Ministry of Health. The Ministry opted for a partnership, which was hammered out in December 1993 after a nine-month bureaucratic odyssey.

Meanwhile, Rosegate's first ultrasound units were sold in autumn 1993. "There are tremendous opportunities for all types of medical products," asserts Uible. His view is supported by trade figures which show U.S. medical device exports to Russia rising from $15 million in 1992 to over $47 million in 1993, despite economic difficulties plaguing Russia's health sector and despite conflicting laws, high taxes, poor communications, crime, and other problems besetting Western firms in Russia. A likely reason for the increase is that stepped-up marketing by U.S. firms since the breakup of the Soviet Union is paying off. In addition, decentralization and economic turmoil have severed Russian purchasers' ties to former Soviet and Eastern European suppliers, prompting them to look abroad for the first time.

In early 1994, Rosegate focused on its publishing venture, overhauling Kardiologia. Rosegate replaced manual typing and pasting with computerized formatting, shifted to a private print shop to improve color processing, and imported quality paper stock to replace the cheap newsprint used in previous editions. The first redesigned issue rolled off the press in March. "We're very pleased with what we've accomplished," Uible said. "Of course, now the real work begins. We have to track down potential advertisers and show them what we've done." Looking ahead, Rosegate hopes to publish up to six additional medical journals by 1996.

"I consider us fortunate," Uible concludes. "It's every entrepreneur's dream to find a good niche market. We certainly didn't enter Russia intending to start a publishing company, but here we are."

Companies seeking Commerce Department business assistance pertaining to the health sector in the Newly Independent States, should contact Greg Rathmell, tel. (202) 482-2796, fax (202) 482-0975.

COPYRIGHT 1994 U.S. Government Printing Office
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group