Business news

MINSK, 30 November (BelTA) – The Belarusian automobile engineering company MAZ and the Belarusian tractor manufacturer MTZ have signed contracts with the Ganja automobile factory on the joint production of vehicles and machines in Azerbaijan, the press service of the Belarusian Industry Ministry told BelTA.

Top executives of the Belarusian holding companies BelavtoMAZ and MTZ Holding signed the documents on supplying vehicle, machine and tractor assembly kits to the Ganja automobile factory in 2016-2017 during an official visit of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to Baku.

The strategic agreement with MAZ provides for delivering up to 350 vehicle assembly kits and vehicles to Azerbaijan in 2017. The contract MTZ has signed provides for delivering 1,500 tractor assembly kits to Azerbaijan in 2016-2017.

A session of the Belarusian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation took place. Participants of the session discussed manufacturing cooperation and the expansion of the choice of passenger vehicles, agricultural machines, construction machines, and utility vehicles, which are assembled in Ganja. Shipments of products made by the Belarusian lift manufacturer Mogilevliftmash were also discussed.

In the course of cooperation over 7,000 Belarus brand tractors and over 2,500 MAZ vehicles have been assembled in Azerbaijan. MTZ and the Ganja automobile factory intend to increase the annual assembly figures up to 2,000 by 2020. The sides are also mutually interested in starting the assembly production of MAZ passenger vehicles at premises of the Ganja automobile factory.

In January-September 2016 the trade turnover between enterprises run by the Belarusian Industry Ministry and Azerbaijani companies totaled $25 million. Belarus’ export amounted to $24.3 million, with import as low as $0.7 million.