NRG INTERNATIONAL is celebrating another Russian coup with its second multi-million-pound order in just nine months. The company won a massive government contract to supply high-speed network printers for the Ministry of Finance in the former Soviet country. The initial one-off shipment of more than 1,500 machines is believed to be the biggest-ever order for this type of equipment and even exceeded predictions for the whole of the Russian market in 2003.

Analysts had forecast total annual sales in the country would be below 1,200.

The latest success follows a deal last summer to supply more than 6,000 machines to the Russian Ministry of the Interior, ranging from networked printers to copiers. The contract, which is expected to be worth up to £9m. over the next five years, is the largest single order ever received by NRGI’s parent company, Ricoh Group.

The Japanese manufacturer is one of the world’s leading suppliers of digital office printing and copier solutions. NRGI manages its independent distribution network in markets outside the USA and Far East regions.

NRGI managing director Phil Duquemin said the decisive factors in winning the latest contract were price and delivery. Despite the size of the order, the company’s Moscow-based distributor was able to guarantee shipment well ahead of the standard four-month lead time.

‘Ricoh pulled out all the stops to bring the manufacture time forward by several weeks to ensure we could meet the customer’s requirement,’ he said.

The machines were built to order in Japan and shipped to NRGI’s distribution centre in Holland.

A convoy of more than 20 lorries then set off on the two-week drive to Moscow, where they were assembled and despatched to government offices throughout the country.

Mr Duquemin said Ricoh had developed products especially for the Russian market.

This had helped make NRGI’s distributor one of the most successful suppliers of office printing solutions in the country.

NRGI, which employs 65 staff in Guernsey, has nearly 200 distributors in more than 90 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Near East. It also has representative offices in Dubai and Paris and staff in Belgium, The Netherlands and the UK.