Based in the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea in the south of the country, MHM will offer Hitachi Construction Machinery’s range to the market. They will be authorised to sell medium excavators, from the ZX70LC-5 to ZX400LCH-5; large excavators, from ZX470LC-5 to ZX870H-3; wheeled excavators, from ZX170W-5 to the ZX210W-5; and medium wheel loaders, from ZW180-5 to the ZW310-5. In addition, it will help existing owners to protect their investment in Hitachi construction machinery with a national network of after-sales services. Furthermore, MHM will embrace HCME’s value chain strategy to become the country’s first-choice solutions provider and help to build a better future. According to Hitachi, this will be achieved by providing the Ukrainian market with access to the Hitachi Premium Rental and Premium Used programmes, as well as remanufactured parts and the wide range of connective technologies available under the ConSite and Solutions Linkage banner. This approach will be supported by MHM’s parent company, which has specialised in industrial machinery and been one of the market leaders for more than a decade. The Alwark Group also operates in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, maintaining more than 5000 machines and employing more than 250 people in the region.

As a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, the construction and related markets changed overnight and this has naturally had a huge impact on MHM’s strategy for the country. Before the conflict, the construction industry had registered an annual growth of 23.9% in 2019 and 5.2% in 2020, and despite the pandemic this figure was also expected to increase in 2021 and beyond. This was scheduled to be supported by the government’s investment in the development of transport infrastructure, energy and utilities, and industrial construction projects (due to be completed by 2030) with additional financial assistance from the EU. “It is of course currently difficult to make any forecast on the future of the market, but we remain as optimistic as possible despite the war,” says Raivis Veckagans, MHM’s Regional Director Ukraine. “There has been incredible damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure and one day there will be a huge requirement to rebuild it with the supply and support of Hitachi construction machinery.”