Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko speaks about new phase in Belarus’ automotive industry development

An archive photo

MINSK, 24 October (BelTA) – The BelGee car factory is set to reach the annual production of 120,000 cars in a few years’ time, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with youth activists in Minsk on 24 October, BelTA has learned.

Among the participants of the meeting were young employees of various enterprises. An employee of the BelGee car factory asked the head of state about his view of the future of the country’s automotive industry.

In December 2023 BelGee will mark its 12th anniversary. The factory began as a small production facility employing just over 50 people. Today it is a nationally known enterprise employing about 1,500 specialists. During the official opening of the BelGee car factory in November 2017, the president said that his dream of having a car manufactured in Belarus had come true. China acted as a partner in the project. Geely cars are very popular not only in Belarus, but also abroad. The demand for them is constantly growing.

There are also plans to launch car manufacturing in Belarus in cooperation with the Chinese FAW Group. The corporation’s most famous brand is a passenger car Hongqi (translated as “red banner”).

“We are launching a new production of passenger cars. Localization is our task number one,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The head of state said that localization would be in the focus of attention. “We need to produce component parts for this car. We have everything necessary to do this. Some of our enterprises are underloaded,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “Of course, it is not an easy task to produce an engine and a gearbox for a passenger car. But we have set such a task. We have our motor plant that produces various engines. We make gearboxes and engines for other cars. Yes, this is going to be a more delicate job, but we will do it.”

“We will build an additional shop for body stamping. We have reached the corresponding agreement with China. If we need equipment, China will help us. We will gradually start producing our own cars. We have bought a license from them, which means we are going to produce BelGee. It will be even better than the one we have already been producing. Such things take time. We have an ambitious program: we need to provide our people with locally-manufactured cars. An imported car is an imported car. A car may break down and you need component parts. We need to produce our own component parts. We are working in this direction,” the president said.

In 2023 the BelGee car factory is expected to produce more than 60,000 cars, twice as much as in the previous year. In a couple of years the output will increase to 120,000 cars a year.

Another priority is the production of an electric car. Belarus has already accumulated certain experience in this area, and these practices should be developed further,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “We have everything, except the battery,” he added.

“We will have our own car. This will be a basic car of good quality. We also keep attracting investors to produce cars here,” the head of state said.

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