On October 12, 2012, representatives from Reichel & Drews of the United States, including Mr. Fred Kestler, president of The RDI Group, and representatives of Boato International of Italy took part in a plant opening ceremony organized by the Russian company RBP in Saratov, Russia. The ceremony commemorated the first shingle production to come off the new production line, which both Reichel & Drews and Boato were partnered in providing to RBP.

The ceremony included speeches by the Governor of the Saratov region and other local heads of state as well as Sergey Andronov, the CEO of RBP, and Alexei Kabanov, chairman of Diana Group, one of the largest building material suppliers in Russia. The opening speeches were followed by a plant tour with 60 guests and the ceremonial start of the production line.  After the start of production, the group was treated to Russian hospitality of fine hors d'oeuvres, champagne, and a climatic conclusion by 16 members of Saratov's skydiving club jumping out of two aircrafts. Three of the skydivers carried the flags of Saratov, Diana Group and RBP.

The road to this memorable event began in the early months of 2008 when Mr. Andronov and several members of Diana Group approached Mr. Joseph Gajc, Marketing Director for Reichel & Drews, about building a shingle production plant. Their vision began one year earlier, but was now on track to become reality.  The group traveled to the United States in early 2008 and met with Reichel & Drews sales and technical members for detailed discussions. They were then taken on a plant tour of one of Reichel & Drews' US customers to get a hands on look at the shingle production process and technology.

Discussions continued and technical details finalized throughout 2009.  In the process, Boato International, one of the leading European manufactures of modified bitumen membrane production systems, was brought on as partnering supplier for the new plant.  The decision was made for Boato to supply the backend of the production process. The backend included the membrane production with Reichel & Drews providing the front end of the process that focused on the shingle production.  The joint venture of these competitors combined the strengths of both companies for a successful project.

In March of 2010, the contract to begin the project was signed by all three parties.  Throughout the course of the next 30 months technical designs will be finalized, machinery will be manufactured and a new green field production plant will be built on the outskirts of Saratov.