The Ireland-based language services provider (LSP) TRANSLIT has announced that the company will be expanding its reach to Russia, a move which has been in the works since September. 2021 has already been a big year for the company, which specializes in interpretation services, with its remote simultaneous interpretation (RSI) technology alongside strong performance in the first financial quarter of the year — the expansion into Russia is another sign of the LSP’s continued growth.
The expansion into Russia comes on the heels of the addition of a new office in London — a move that came about as a means of establishing a base in the UK in order to combat the effects of Brexit. Alex Chernenko, TRANSLIT’s chief executive officer (CEO), said that the company’s next step is expanding into the United States.
“I am excited to open a subsidiary in Moscow. This will expand TRANSLIT RSI to Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) countries and beyond,” Chernenko said. “Many businesses from Russia and Eastern Europe usually go to Western Europe. We are doing it the other way around. TRANSLIT has already staff and clients in that region. Our new office will create a local presence and better service as well as generate additional revenue.”
Russia is a region rife with opportunity for the LSP, as the country is currently one of the few in the world not implementing lockdown guidelines. As such, conferences and other offline events where interpreters are necessary are in full operation — Chernenko said he sees this as an advantage as TRANSLIT looks toward its growth in the region. The company’s leadership also hopes that expanding into Russia will allow for the company to establish connections within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a group of former Soviet states throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
“Russia is at the forefront of offline events. There are no lockdowns. Demand for remote interpreting is growing with transition to hybrid format,” Chernenko said. “Remote interpreting technology (has become) popular in US, Australia and gradually moved into Europe. Eastern Europe and Asia were falling behind on adopting this technology widely. With many events moving online and remote, now is the perfect time to expand and enter new markets. TRANSLIT RSI has huge potential in Russia with many big events happening there and a large population.”
Through the end of 2021, Chernenko said he plans on focusing the company’s development in the UK, Europe, Russia and CIS countries. Ideally, he hopes to begin expansion into the United States at the beginning of 2022, and also plans on having a local presence in Latin America as well.
“We anticipate preparation and already some travel into the US this year for ground testing and relationship building. TRANSLIT has already a few clients in the Americas,” Chernenko said. “We haven’t actively sold to those countries. The starting phase will commence later this year, active phase — expecting in early 2022.”
Editor’s note: Alex Chernenko will be the host of the MultiLingual Season Series panel entitled: Let’s Talk About the Future of Live Events, Conferences and Live Interpretation; Thursday, May 6, 9-10:30 AM PST/Noon EST/6 PM CET
