Business news

DUSHANBE, 16 May (BelTA) – The Belarusian electric transport manufacturer Belkommunmash has won the tender for supplying trolley buses with an autonomous travel capability to Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe, BelTA learned from Belkommunmash Director General Vladimir Korol.

The executive said: “The bidding took place yesterday. We’ve won the tender to deliver four trolley buses with autonomous travel options. We’ve beat the competition with our prices and technology.”

Yet Vladimir Korol specified that the protocol to finally confirm the victory of the Belarusian company would have to be approved within three months. “We discussed the results yesterday. As far as we can understand, the Tajik side is interested in getting the paperwork done faster than that,” he noted.

The possibility of supplying Belarusian electric buses was mentioned as the Belarusian and Tajik heads of state went on a tour of Belarus’ national expo. Vladimir Korol noted that the possibility of selling electric buses may be considered in the future. “A trolley bus with an autonomous travel capability is a hybrid, which allows you to see how this kind of transport performs. The results will be used to consider the advisability of using electric buses as part of Dushanbe’s mass transit system,” explained the Belkommunmash head. “If everything goes okay, a tender may be called and an additional delivery of up to 50 hybrid trolley buses may be arranged. Electric buses are a more distant future. They would like to study the matter taking into account the weather conditions and the terrain in Dushanbe.”

BelTA earlier quoted Ambassador of Belarus to Tajikistan Oleg Ivanov as saying that the tender had been arranged with assistance of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which finances ecological projects in the region.

Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon said if the Belarusian vehicles perform well, more orders will follow. According to Oleg Ivanov, the EBRD may finance the entire project for converting Dushanbe’s mass transit system to environmentally friendly vehicles.