On Wednesday April 16, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko visited Hisor district to officially introduce the first line of a manufacturing facility to assemble Belarusian tractors into operation. The plant has been set up at the Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) Agrotekhservis (Agritechservice).
The Hisor tractor assembly plant will assemble up to 620 Belarusian tractors of different models per year. Introducing the second line of the plant into operation in September this year will allow increasing the number of tractors being assembled at the Hisor plant to 1,700, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
In the future, the plant’s capacity will be increased up to 2,600 tractors.
Tajikistan’s CJSC Agrotekhservis (Agritechservice) and Belarus’ MTZ and Bobruiskagromash have reportedly signed an agreement on cooperation in assembling Belarus-80.1 and Belarus-82.1 and Belarus-952 in Tajikistan.
There are plans to export some of tractors assembled in Tajikistan to other countries of the region, including Afghanistan.
“Belarus” is a series of four-wheeled tractors produced since 1950 at Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ). These tractors are very well known throughout the CIS and are exported to more than 100 countries worldwide, including the United States and Canada
Recall, Tajikistan and Belarus reached agreement to set up a company producing Belarus tractors in the south of Tajikistan in September 2012. Minsk Tractor Works is a major industrial enterprise in Minsk, Belarus. It is a part of the Industrial Association "Minsk Tractor Works". In addition to the main plant in Minsk, the association includes a number of plants that produce parts and attachable tools for tractors and other vehicles produced by MTZ.
Meanwhile, BelTA (Belarusian Telegraph Agency) news agency, citing MTZ Deputy Marketing Director Alexander Kazakevich, says the assembly plant can produce up to 900 tractors. “Our joint plans include not only the domestic market of Tajikistan, but also export markets. We plan to expand the range of tractors that are assembled here. For today, the major product is an 80hp tractor. We plan to add more powerful ones, i.e. 100 hp, 130 hp tractors, and also launch the assembling of cotton harvesting tractors,” Kazakevich said.
According to him, the company considers Afghanistan as the first target market among third countries.
Joint plans also include the production of units, component parts in Tajikistan as part of the localization program. Alexander Kazakevich said that the situation with the availability of highly-qualified personnel is favorable. “I do not think that there will be any problems here. People are interested in getting new knowledge and work,” he said.
At present, the production complex includes a small assembly shop (1,100 square meters), a finished goods warehouse, an open exhibition area for agricultural machinery and an administrative and educational building, according to BelTA. The construction of an assembly shop with a total area of more than 1,600 square meters is underway. It will include three lines to assemble Belarusian equipment.
In 2018 the parties will launch the production of trailed and attached equipment of Bobruiskagromash and self-propelled mowers of Gomselmash in Hisor. The plans are in place to expand the model range of equipment.
One more project is underway in Hisor to establish a training center for technical specialists to maintain and serve Belarusian agricultural machinery. The talks are underway to involve teachers of the Belarusian National Technical University in the educational programs of the training center.
Руcский
