OREANDA-NEWS. On 09 April 2008 was announced, that ETC, a subsidiary of OAO ARMADA, signed three state contracts with the local governments of the Kaluga and Saratov regions to supply and maintain its “Goszakupki” e-procurement system. The project value is RUB 29m (approx. USD 1.2m).

According to the contracts, ETC will supply 39 packages of the e-commerce software to municipalities in the Saratov region and will provide the subsequent maintenance services. Three more software packages are due to be delivered to the cities of Kaluga and Obninsk (Kaluga region).

The “Goszakupki” e-procurement solution developed by ETC is currently one of the best systems for automating the placement of public orders. It also ensures strict compliance of the electronic auctions with federal law requirements. ETC’s e-business software won appreciation and acknowledgement at the exhibition in St. Petersburg, where the company was awarded for the development of an automated public procurement system.

ETC is one of the leaders on the Russian e-business software market. According to management estimates, around 30% of the total electronic government and municipal purchases in 2007 came through e-commerce systems established by ETC. Over the past six months, the company has secured its dominating position as the leading vendor of e-procurement solutions for regional and municipal governments and has tapped a new commercial sector by signing contracts to implement e-commerce systems at the large metallurgical holdings Mechel and Amurmetal.

Once incorporated into ARMADA Group, ETC was able to significantly enlarge its business. “The signing of the recent contracts serves as an excellent example of the synergy between the Group’s companies and is a clear demonstration of ARMADA’s strategy to further expand its presence in the fast-growing high-margin IT market sectors. ETC has proven a successful acquisition, bringing us to a top spot in a promising sector and giving us a great highly competitive and demanded product,” said CEO of OAO ARMADA Alexei Kuzovkin.

According to management accounts, ARMADA’s consolidated revenue reached USD 130.5m in 2007. The group’s first priority is the IT services and software development sectors. Last year, sales growth in these spheres amounted to 300% and 51% respectively. This rapid expansion has been due to both organic development and the group’s active mergers and acquisitions policy.