ICL has staged a marketing coup by being the first large Western computer company to win a deal enabling it to run a production line in the Soviet Union. The deal is reputedly worth millions of pounds and the personal computers in question come from ICL’s DRS range. A batch of models 30, 40, 45, and 60 will be shipped to the Soviet Union at the end of the month, and assembly from kits is expected to start at the end of the year. ICL, which has traded continuously with the Soviet Union over the past 20 years, signed a deal in January to form the joint venture company Marine Computer Systems with the Centre for Science, Research and Planning Design Institute of the USSR Merchant Marines and the Civic Domestic Service Board of Leningrad City Council. The production line will be based in Leningrad and will focus on the des ign and development of complete sys tems based on the DRS range, for the Merchant Marines and the city counc il department. In particular, ICL will be looking at aiding safety at sea for large and passenger vessels, the administration of port facilit ies, and the management of council finances and services. Marine Computer Systems will establish service centres in Moscow, Leningrad, Vladi vostok, and Odessa. The venture will also benefit from ICL training facilities, and training consultants from the company will be going to the Soviet Union in the near future.
