Marr Capital to open Hyundai bus and truck assembly plant in Tula in July
TULA. May 6 (Interfax) - Marr Capital LLC will open a plant in Tula for assembling Hyundai buses and trucks in July 2011, Governor Vyacheslav Dudka told journalists.
The cooperation agreement covering the project, which is valued at 1 billion rubles, was signed in October 2010, Dudka said.
"We planned to make the first lot of Hyundai buses in late 2010. But a host of circumstances forced us to reschedule the start of production to summer," Dudka said.
The plant will assemble up to 4,500 buses and trucks initially, rising to 25,000 units over the course of five years.
"The plant currently employs 150 people. That will rise to 1,000 within three years. The main goal is to set up production of the components themselves. Assembly represents just 5%-7% of the value of the buses, while component manufacture is as much as 85%," Dudka said.
The assembly operation will be located at OJSC Combinemashstroy (Tula). It will assemble vehicles from CKD kits.
Marr Capital is owned by former Lukoil vice president and Altai territory senator Ralif Safin and members of his family. Safin had announced plans to build five bus assembly plants in Russia.