Vice premier: Belarusian car industry is on the rise

The Belarusian automobile industry will be developing at an accelerated pace, getting additional projects and capacities, Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Parkhomchik said in an interview to ONT TV channel, BelTA has learned.

“Last year we produced about 30,000 vehicles, and the market still lacked these products,” he said. “The president has set a task to produce 60,000 cars this year, and it will be fulfilled. Some 40,000 cars have been produced and sold. An important task is to localize the component base of these cars. Next year will be a hard one for BelGee: we need to develop a stamping production facility within a short period of time to produce all body components for our company. We also need to open a production facility for structure welding. That is why we are moving to the stage of creating additional capacities to launch the production of 80,000 cars per year in two-shift operation mode.”

Belarus is also discussing issues of deep localization, including the production of internal combustion engine. “We have an agreement with a Chinese company, which has already delivered two crossovers for certification,” Piotr Parkhomchik said. “The new cars will not overlap with the products manufactured by BelGee. These crossovers are more expensive and belong to the business class. We will certify them in the nearest future. We have been receiving vehicle kits for their production since September. They will be assembled at the Unison company.