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“The shipment of a big batch of the MTZ machinery for Cuba (450 tractors with the 80, 100 and 150 horsepower capacity) was completed at the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda on 29 November. The €12.9 million contract was signed on 8 June,” he noted.

According to Taras Murog, this batch is one of the biggest shipments in the recent time. “The previous big consignment was shipped to Cuba in 2013. Then it was 160 vehicles worth of €5.5 million. Last year the number of shipped machinery to this country did not exceed 100 vehicles. The current delivery was conducted within the framework of the intergovernmental agreement between Belarus and Cuba,” he explained.

According to Taras Murog, the company has signed a contract with Cuba to supply €5.7 million worth of spare parts in 2016. “We hope for further cooperation with Cuba and such big contracts. We are deeply interested in this region. We are currently considering the possibility of exporting our tractors to Nicaragua (nearly 1,000 vehicles) and Bolivia (450 tractors). This is almost the entire lineup of Minsk Tractor Works. We believe the machinery will be supplied in 2016. We are working on the intergovernmental agreement for the shipment of the vehicles,” he stressed. Apart from that, according to Taras Murog, MTZ is mulling over its assembly plant in Brazil to pave the way to the market of Latin America.

According to the company, nearly 70 more tractors will be shipped to Cuba in 2015. “We concluded this contract at the exhibition in Havana. The supplies will be held with the assistance of the United States,” the MTZ said.

Minsk Tractor Works was founded in 1946. It is part of the system of enterprises run by the Belarusian Industry Ministry. The company offers over 120 models and modifications of tractors and vehicles with over 200 options for all kinds of climatic and operational conditions. For the last few years MTZ has kept an 8-10% share of the global market of wheeled tractors. MTZ operates in over 60 countries and has assembly enterprises in Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China, Romania, Egypt, Serbia, Algeria, Venezuela, and other countries.