English

Minsk Automobile Factory management sets up working group for establishing car plant

The management of the Minsk Automobile Factory (MAZ) has set up a working group for establishing a car plant, MAZ Assistant Director General Alyaksandr Rakomsin, told reporters on May 2.

The government has ordered that MAZ start manufacturing cars, Mr. Rakomsin said. MAZ, which will soon start doing market research and looking for a partner, is just beginning to carry out the order, he added.

In particular, MAZ managers will soon hold talks with Russian, West European, Indian and Chinese car manufacturers, he said.

“We need a serious partner, someone who would offer Belarus the most favorable terms and would be really interested in establishing an integrated complex, not a mere assembly plant,” Mr. Rakomsin said, adding that a foreign or a joint company could control the plant.

The government has directed that separate facilities be built for the plant, and that at least 50 percent of the components should be Belarusian-made.

MAZ was chosen by the industry ministry to organize the manufacturing of cars in Belarus because it has experience of designing and manufacturing vehicles and has the necessary facilities and staff, Mr. Rakomsin explained. Apart from the MAZ management, ministries, other governmental agencies, and the nation’s leadership are engaged in the matter, he noted.

Founded in 1944, MAZ is one of the largest manufacturers of trucks in Eastern Europe. Sixty percent of its trucks are exported to Russia. MAZ sold more than 19,000 trucks to Russia last year.

MAZ also builds buses, trackless trolleys and trailers. //BelaPAN