MAZ is building a new bus factory

Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) is entering a new stage of development. It has launched the construction of a new bus factory, where passenger buses will be produced under the most advanced technologies.
In the near future, residents of Belarusian and Russian cities will be able to appreciate the quality and comfort of new transport.

Aleksey Vyazmitinov

MAZ started the production of city buses back in 1992. For the first time in the former USSR, a passenger car was made according to a modern layout diagram. Three wide doors, a spacious interior, and large windows provided a new standard of comfort. And of course, its state-of-the-art design deserves a special mention. The appearance of MAZ buses in Minsk and other Belarusian cities immediately changed the looks of the streets.
At that time, frames of the cars under construction were put in the production building almost end to end. Many assemblies and parts were manufactured in other workshops and had to be delivered using complex logistic schemes. While the plant was working for Belarus only and its capacity did not exceed 500 cars per year, those inconveniences could be tolerated. However, very soon the Minsk novelty attracted the interest of Russia and other CIS countries. In addition, there were developed short bus models, articulated models (of extended length) for suburban and intercity services, as well as airport apron buses. As a result, the production of MAZ buses increased from year to year — 1,000, 1,500, and last year — up to 1,800 units! Still, production did not keep up with demand. Drastic decisions had to be made. 
The question on the necessity to build a full-fledged bus manufacturing plant for the Minsk automobile giant was for the first time raised at a high level several years ago. A governmental decision was made, a business plan was developed, considerable funds were found, including with the support of the Minsk City Executive Committee, and design and estimate documentation was elaborated. And now, the grandiose project is entering a crucial phase.
The area of the new MAZ bus plant will be 65 thousand square metres. Closedloop production will be arranged under one roof — from metal cutting to finished product testing.
According to Aleksandr Ignatyuk, Deputy General Director of JSC Minsk Automobile Plant – Managing Company of BELAVTOMAZ Holding – Director of Economics, the bus plant under construction with state support will double its capacity. Starting from 2025, they will begin to manufacture more products with the focus on the latest, third-generation buses. 
This aspect of the project is also of paramount importance. Eco-friendly, comfortable for both passengers and the driver, cost-efficient and just beautiful buses will come out of the gates of the new production. Several third-generation cars are already undergoing operational testing in regional Belarusian cities. Recently, a batch of innovative passenger transport has been sent to Kazan. The innovative driver is electrical engineering. The high-capacity articulated e-buses produced at MAZ operate on the busiest routes of the Belarusian capital. And all this — in the context of unprecedented economic pressure exerted on Belarus and Russia. The purchase of the latest equipment and some components is limited. But the difficulties have been overcome, as stated by Aleksandr Ignatyuk, “Time has shown that the development pattern of Belarusian industry is resistant to external shocks. Belarusian industry is geared to the production of its own goods, which allows not to engage in complete knock down assembly or rely solely on import. Our holding is developing its 10 subsidiaries that are involved in import substitution. The relevant sections have been created. We did not stop even for a day. MAZ is fully loaded. Truck tractors, dump trucks, and construction machinery are in demand.”

Sergei Mitsevich


As for MAZ buses, they are produced using a wide range of Russian materials and components. An example is the new generation intercity and tourist bus MAZ-350, which recently won the prestigious international business award. In fact, Belarusian and Russian components make up 78 percent of the entire vehicle.
On a side note, Russia is closely watching the development of bus production in Minsk. Thus, MAZ was recently visited by Dmitry Zverev, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, and Sergey Semenov, Director of the State Policy Department in the Field of Automobile and Urban Passenger Transport of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation. They thanked the enterprise staff for having delivered about 900 modern spacious vehicles to various cities of the Russian Federation last year. They also inquired how many units MAZ will be able to sell this year. This will become a significant contribution to the implementation of the public transport fleet renewal programme developed at the instruction of the President of Russia.
In this regard, it will not come as unexpected if the new bus manufacturing factory capacities of Minsk Automobile 
Plant turn out to be fully loaded.

By Vladimir Bibikov

TO THE POINT

Tests of electric buses from Belarus are close to completion in Siberia

Belrus, a dealer of Belkommunmash Holding, has delivered 11 electric buses of its own production to distant Siberia. This new transport for Krasnoyarsk has been running through the streets of the regional centre for almost a month.
Yet, in test mode so far.
Krasnoyarsk residents insisted specifically on winter testing of the vehicles because of the weather. Belarus has a much milder climate, whereas Siberians needed to check whether the new transport for the city would be reliable and not fail in 30-40–degree frosts, and whether charging stations would withstand temperature changes. So far, there have been no complaints. The testers have confirmed that Belarusian transport has successfully withstood the test of adverse Siberian weather. It is worth noting that Krasnoyarsk residents appreciated the new transport. It is not surprising, though.

The capacity of e-buses is 85 passengers while distance run in autonomous mode makes up to 50 kilometres. They are equipped with GLONASS, LED displays, video surveillance and climate control systems, satellite navigation, Wi-Fi and USB connectors, and are fitted for transporting passengers with limited mobility. Special systems allow monitoring over 300 parameters of an e-bus online and transmit data to the dispatcher. One more distinctive feature is the suspension control system, which allows lifting an e-bus to overcome difficult road sections.

After a successful completion of the tests, electric buses will be assigned a specific route connecting two neighbourhoods in different parts of the city. By the way, it is planned to replace both trolleybuses and buses with Belarusian e-buses, as necessary. In general, the city authorities are planning to purchase 600 more units of similar 
e-buses from Belarus by 2028, when Krasnoyarsk will celebrate its 400th anniversary.

By Nadezhda Stolyarchuk