Russia's Kamaz withdraws from KamLit KZ projects in Kazakhstan
MOSCOW/KOSTANAI. Jan 16 (Interfax) - Russia's Kamaz has pulled out of Kazakhstan's KamLit KZ LLP, which builds iron casting and drive axle components manufacturing plants in the city of Kostanai, Kazakhstan's regional authorities said.
Kamaz owned a 39% stake in KamLit KZ in 2021, according to its statements.
The deal was closed in November 2022 with the Kamaz stake sold to High End Assembly Technologies Motors LLP or HEAT Motors LLP, the regional governor's office said.
HEAT Motors LLP was registered in Astana in March 2022; its co-owners include Hans Peter Moser, ex-head of the Kamaz project on making promising K5 vehicles, according to the Kazakh Justice Ministry.
KamLit KZ is currently building two plants in Kostanai. One of them will specialize in iron casting, in particular, manufacture of cylinder blocks and heads for Kamaz engines. Its production area is 28,000 square meters, design capacity is over 40,000 tonnes of cast iron a year; its construction began in 2020 with the investment estimated at $200 million. The second plant will manufacture drive axle components - beams and final drives. Investment in the project nears $200 million with a capacity of 74,000 units a year.
The plants should go into operation in 2024-2025.
KamLit KZ LLP is now concluding contracts for the supply of production equipment for the drive axle components plant. However, due to the existing sanctions, an approval from the export control regulator is required to purchase equipment from the European suppliers.
"In Germany, such a regulatory authority is BAFA under the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany. In order to obtain the approval from BAFA, some conditions needed to be fulfilled. In particular, KAMAZ PJSC sold its interest in KamLit KZ LLP in November 2022 to HEAT MOTORS LLP. To date, the requirements set forth by BAFA have been met, and the company is now seeking permission to buy production equipment," the press release says.