GANJA, 19 May (BelTA) – The Belarusian tractor manufacturer MTZ signed a contract on selling 950 tractor assembly kits worth $15 million to Ganja Automotive Plant during a working visit of Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko to Azerbaijan, BelTA has learned.
MTZ Director General Vitaly Vovk said: “Cooperation between MTZ and Ganja Automotive Plant began back in 2007. We’ve assembled and sold over 12,000 tractors together with our partners. Over 1,000 tractors will be assembled this year. Another contract on supplying 950 kits was signed today. We intend to expand the lineup and assemble more tractors in the future.”
The Belarusian manufacturer of agricultural machines Gomselmash also signed a memorandum of cooperation with Ganja Automotive Plant.
The construction of Ganja Automotive Plant began in 1986 upon the initiative of the then high-ranking USSR Communist Party functionary Heydar Aliyev. The enterprise began commercial operation in late 2004 by assembling OKA compact cars, UAZ cars, and later on medium-capacity Chinese trucks CAN QAN. Ganja Automotive Plant focuses on making heavy vehicles at present. Belarusian vehicles and machines are assembled in the main shop, which production area exceeds 20,000m2. Three assembly lines are now operational (one for tractors and two for automobiles).
The industrial group Ganja Automotive Plant signed the first major contracts with Belarusian mechanical engineering company – MTZ and MAZ – in October 2006. In 2007-2022 Ganja Automotive Plant assembled about 12,000 Belarusian tractors worth about $230 million as well as about 4,000 MAZ, MZKT, Gomselmash, Amkodor, and Belkommunmash vehicles and machines worth over $200 million.
Apart from that, the choice of Belarusian agricultural machines, which are exported to Azerbaijan, can be expanded by organizing deliveries of mounted and trailed tractor equipment for tillage, crop care, crop and fodder harvesting. The industrial group Ganja Automotive Plant has a considerable potential for setting up a versatile industrial cluster on the premises. The cluster could make a broad range of agricultural machines and passenger vehicles Azerbaijan needs.