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Nokian Renkaat slashes Russian JV targets

HELSINKI, April 25 (Reuters) - The Nordic region's largest tyre maker Nokian Renkaat on Friday sharply cut its outlook for sales at its joint venture with Russian Amtel for this year and next, saying targets had become "more realistic".

Nokian Renkaat, one of the most profitable tyre makers in the industry due to its high-end winter tyre focus, said Amtel-Nokian Tyres LLC will start operations with a target of selling 600,000 Nordman-branded tyres this year and two million in 2004.

The company said in February it aimed to make 900,000 tyres in 2003 and 3.6 million next year at the joint venture.

The company's spokeswoman Raila Hietala-Hellman said the new sales targets, the result of negotiations with Amtel, were close to the production estimates.

"Everything is going as planned. It is just that these figures are more realistic now," she told Reuters by telephone.

Hietala-Hellman added the company will provide more details when it reports its first-quarter results on May 6.

Analysts see Russia and the former Soviet Union as a key growth area for Nokian Renkaat, which is already the leading imported tyre brand in the region with a 14-percent market share.

Last month, Japan's major Bridgestone sealed its purchase of a 19.9 percent stake in Nokian Renkaat from telecom equipment maker Nokia for 78.34 million euros to widen its market reach and boost know-how.

Shares in Nokian Renkaat traded 0.9 percent down at 37.28 euros in few dealings on Friday, in line with a weaker Helsinki bourse and three percent below a three-year high reached on Thursday.

The share is up some 10 percent this year, boosted by the Bridgestone share purchase and good 2002 results.