News & Events in Belarus
Lukashenko names MZKT one of his favorite enterprises
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko visits Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant, August 2020
'MZKT's novelty has no equal at the Russian Engineering Innovations competition'. ‘Volat's new development for the oil and gas industries!' These and other similar headlines show that the year was good for Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant (MZKT, Volat trademark). For example, in early November another unique chassis rolled off the assembly line. Its main feature is the two-part frame design. Weighing 74 tonnes, the vehicle is capable of transporting cargo up to 50 tonnes. In the new episode of the You-tube project "After the Fact: Lukashenko's Decisions" we will tell whether Belarus can do without MZKT? How much was the president offered for this unique plant? What will happen, according to the president, if the plant is stopped?
How did MAZ special design bureau turn into Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant?
On 23 July 1954, a special design bureau was set up at Minsk Automobile Plant. It was headed by the legendary Soviet designer Boris Shaposhnik. It was supposed to design heavy and super-heavy vehicles for the Soviet army. A year later it came up with the ten-gear MAZ-528 wheel tractor designed to work with attachments and trailed equipment. Time passed and the special bureau turned into a self-sufficient enterprise - Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant. For 69 years, the plant has been designing and producing unique vehicles for transporting heavy cargo. But this path can hardly be called easy. The plant is no stranger to difficult conditions like the all-terrain vehicles it designs.
“I have been working at the plant for more than 20 years and I have witnessed different periods. The 1990s were very difficult. The state order fell to 10%. We were looking for new markets and niches. It was very hard. We survived and event designed a line-up of new vehicles. With the economic recovery in the Russian Federation in the mid-2000s, the demand for our goods rebounded. Order intake prospects were good,” MZKT Director General Aleksei Rimashevsky said.
However, there was no opportunity to implement the order, the MZKT director general added. “The level of depreciation of fixed assets reached 98%. We appealed to the head of state for help. The president signed a decree and we were given subsidies and loans. In 2007-2010 we conducted the first phase of technical upgrade. Thus we had an opportunity to design new vehicles for the Russian Federation and for Belarusian defense and law enforcement agencies. Without this decision, we definitely wouldn't be where we are. Or we might have not survived at all.”
Why did Lukashenko refuse to sell MZKT?
Offers to buy out this unique plant were many. But we know the attitude of the president to privatization. The company has been built by more than one generation. Is it our place to sell it? The president even recalled the privatization rules: the consent of the labor collective and then the consent of the city administration and the government. And only after that, the documents get to the desk of the head of state. In the case of MZKT, it did not come to this.
“If something is to be sold, it has to be sold for a lot of money. But we often hear: ‘we can build such a plant for a billion dollars, and you ask two billions from us'. I tell them ‘go ahead'. You can build a plant (walls are inexpensive), buy the equipment and take out loans. But it takes decades, not even years, to teach people to use this equipment, to build on expertise to manufacture high-quality goods,” the Belarusian president said during his visit to the plant in August 2015.
How has MZKT become one of the president's favorite enterprises?
The president admitted that Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant is one of his favorite enterprises. The plant has fulfilled the president's instructions to create vehicles for the Belarusian army, and today they are in demand in international market. The competencies of specialists are very high, so it is extremely important to retain and nurture them.
“Just like in Belarus today: some want to make the country dependent or surrender in some way. We don't want that. This is why I hope you understand that the company should be preserved,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he appointed Aleksei Rimashevsky MZKT Director General in January 2020. The head of state also stressed that MZKT learned how to compete on international markets and now makes products that only two or three other countries in the world can make. “We should keep up with the competition. Our products should be better than someone else's. Then they will sell,” the president said.
“If we talk about sanctions, things have never been easy for us. We have always faced restrictions at least in terms of technologies, given our line of business. We have always faced this oppression, starting from 2020 and beyond: 2021, 2022… I have already lost count. And I am not following the packages of sanctions they have imposed against our enterprise,” Aleksei Rimashevsky said.
The MZKT director general added that in terms of the plant's main products that are meant for the defense industries of the Union State, the share of imported products is approaching zero or at a zero in some goods. We were ready for sanctions like no one else,” he stressed.
What is Belarus' Volat?
Volat has proven its worth in many countries: it has reached the hot deserts of the Middle East and the far north of Russia. Our eastern neighbor made an attempt to create such a "beast". The president once commented on such "competition" and its expediency.
You have just been to Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant. The plant makes super sophisticated goods, up to 80% of which are exported to Russia. KAMAZ is attempting to do something similar, some new platform. A lot of funds have been injected and nothing has been achieved so far. I asked Putin why he was doing it. We already have such a plant. Are there any problems with procurement, price, and quality? “None.” “So why set a new one up?” By creating an alternative, you are simply pushing us out of this union. What kind of union is it if you do not buy our products and we do not buy yours? What kind of interest will we have then? the Belarusian president said as he met with representatives of the Russian media in December 2018.
Here is a prime example of the Union State cooperation. Belarusian Volat delivered an excellent technical solution for Russia's most powerful concrete pump Zoomlion. The boom height reaches 63m. We will not go into details. We will just add that the novelty was named winner in one of the nominations. This means a lot in professional circles.
"In the past 10 years more than 70% of our vehicles have been exported to the Russian Federation. The plant uses components and parts made in Russia and Belarus. Talking about innovations, we have kicked off an import-substitution project together with Galich Mobile Cranes Plant. We are making a crane of more than 100 tonnes for the needs of Gazprom,” the MZKT director general said.
What features do MZKT wheeled chassis add to Polonez?
Polonez, the most powerful weapon of the Belarusian army, is based on MZKT wheeled chassis. This is why Polonez boasts high mobility, smooth running, high cross-country capabilities and speed. It is worth mentioning that this is one of the few systems in the world that entered service with the army only after a few years of development, not dozens of years.
We are blazing a trail for mobile wheeled platforms for special-purpose vehicles, primarily for the defense industry. We strive to occupy leading positions, to develop further. We have won a number of contracts in competition against the world's major manufacturers. This is evidence of our strong positions in the international market. I can say with confidence that we are world number one manufacturer of heavy-duty tank trailers,” Aleksei Rimashevsky said
Why were there attempts to undermine the situation at MZKT in 2020?
Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant is an open joint-stock company, 100% owned by the state. The enterprise makes unique products and is the world leading producer of heavy-duty wheeled vehicles of high cross-country performance. Perhaps, this is not to everyone's liking. Now you understand why in 2020 there was an attempt to turn everything upside down and sow chaos both at the plant and in the country. Someone would really like to see abandoned premises instead of a successful enterprise there. Nothing personal, just business…
“I have never betrayed you and I will never do,” the Belarusian president told the plant workers as he visited MZKT in August 2020. “We lived in peace and accord. Others envied us, respected us. What have you done to the country? It will be hard to get back on track! Please get back to work. Calm down, continue working. We will meet here in January and you will tell me how things are and what needs to be done.” <...> “Do not provoke! I have been through everything. I will get over this, too. You think solely about yourselves now. Imagine I am gone today. Have you thought about tomorrow? Please, in order to keep salaries, do not ruin your enterprise. Lukashenko will be gone tomorrow, but you are going to stay here.”
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko visits Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant, August 2020
So they kept working. Emotions abated and only after a while it became clear how far-sighted the president was then. Lukashenko has stayed loyal to his people and continued to support the plant workers. He keeps all their everyday issues on the radar. The head of state has recently responded to the MZKT workers' request and supported the proposal to transfer the ownership of a high-rise building in Minsk. The building previously housed a dormitory. MZKT was allowed to use it free of charge in 2013. The company financed redecoration and reconstruction of the building, converted it into a tenement house, and rented the apartments to employees. With the president's decision, MZKT will get the right to set its own rent prices and offer preferences.
“We have preserved our design traditions and updated technological capabilities. We are confidently looking into the future, evolving, producing a large number of new models – all thanks to the support of the head of state. He believes in the plant, trusts us and we cannot let him down,” the MZKT director general said.
What goals does the company's leadership set for 2024?
2023 has become a record-breaking year for the plant. Some two dozen new models have been developed in the MZKT experimental shop. The plant has ambitious plans for the next year as well. There is nothing that can stop Volat. Any attempt to do it will only encourage the plant to make a new technical leap.
“We do not forget about our traditional machinery, continue producing it. This year we have developed a lot of models for the national economy, oil and gas, construction industry. A line-up of chassis for concrete pumps. There are projects for cranes, special-purpose vehicles, armored vehicles,” Aleksei Rimashevsky said.
It was a far-sighted decision of the head of state, who gave an instruction to design our own protected vehicle, the MZKT director general said. “This year we have made a breakthrough and launched its serial production,” Aleksei Rimashevsky said.
“I have recently visited MZKT. You are free to shut the plant down, Belarus will do without it. Only 15% of the plant's output is used in Belarus. The rest is exported. As soon as you shut it down, no one will talk to you tomorrow. Where will you be then? How many employees do we have there – 5,000-6,000 people. Together with families, these are 20,000 people. Who will feed the children?” the Belarusian leader said as he made new appointments in October 2020.
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