10 Aug 2022 09:57

Production of Geely cars in Belarus to resume in Sept

MINSK. Aug 10 (Interfax) - Production of Geely cars at the BelGee plant in Belarus, which was suspended earlier this year, will be resumed in September under an agreement with Chinese partners, and the plant is expected to assemble 9,700 vehicles by the end of the year, Industry Minister Petr Parhomchik said.

He said very substantive negotiations were held on resuming shipments of vehicle kits. "An agreement was reached literally last week that 9,700 vehicle kits will be delivered to the Republic of Belarus by the end of the year," Parhomchik said.

He said "we will try to assemble all of these vehicles, but there is just not enough time to reach last year's figure of 30,000 automobiles." Starting in September, "2,500-2,600 automobiles will be produced at BelGee" per month, Parhomchik said.

Since mid-March, BelGee has periodically reported on the suspension of production due to supply chain disruptions.

BelGee, founded in December 2011, opened a full-cycle CKD (complete knock-down) plant in Minsk region in November 2017 with capacity of 60,000 vehicles per year and potential for further expansion. The company is 58.162% owned by BelAZ and 36.092% by China's Zhejang Jirun Automobile Co. Ltd.

President Alexander Lukashenko said in June that prices for Geely Atlas Pro cars assembled in Belarus had doubled. After he issued an order, prices for BelGee's vehicles were administratively reduced by 15%.

The Belarusian Automobile Association reported that 290 Geely cars were sold in July.