Four months after being made redundant, the erstwhile business development manager of AST Research Inc’s East Europe operation, Chris Swallow, has formally launched AST’s second authorised distributor in the region. Joining Swallow in the venture are six local businessmen, including the head of AST’s only accredited services centre in the country, Dragon Electronics, and the Prague-based systems integrator ICCC. The formation of Compartners SRO puts to an end the sole distributor status of Prague-based Sofram, and Swallow has set Compartners the target of matching Sofram’s 1992 revenues this year – he estimates this at $2m. Swallow was made redendant from AST in November, when the company closed down its East European operation, but he maintains that AST was not dissatisfied with its sales in the region, which he claims totalled over $5m in 1992. Swallow explained They had a low-key attitude to the region and had just wanted to get a foot in the door. But they didn’t have high expectations, and that done, they decided it was too early to open a full subsidiary. As well as selling to Czech dealers at prices within 5% of West European levels, the firm also has a handful of dealers in Slovakia. However, Swallow was not optimistic regarding the prospects for the latter, arguing that administrative confusion on the border with the Czech Republic now made it easier to ship kit to Slovakia from a third country. Compartners SRO is based in Mlada Eoleslav, 50 miles north east of Prague.
