Construction of Azerbaijani-Belarus tractor assembly plant in Turkey nearing completion - EXCLUSIVE

The launch of the Azerbaijan-Belarus tractor assembly plant (Azerbaijan-Turkey Uretim Birliyi Traktor, ATUB) in the Turkish city of Kırıkkale, according to preliminary data, is scheduled for late September, plant's co-director Murad Ismayilov told Report.

“Construction work is 99% complete. At the same time, work was underway to obtain a number of mandatory permits for the production of tractors,” said Ismayilov, without specifying the date of the start of assembly production.

The grand opening of the plant was originally scheduled for late July.

In the first three years of the plant's operation, the annual output will be from 500 to 3,000 tractors: 500 tractors are planned in the first year.

Turkey's annual demand for tractors is about 70,000 units, in this regard, initially, within a year and a half, they will be produced in order to supply the domestic market, but in the future it is planned to export tractors to foreign markets, in particular, to African countries.

The assembly production of Minsk tractors in Turkey will be organized with the support of the Ganja Automobile Plant, which has been cooperating with the Minsk Tractor Plant for many years. A special version of the BELARUS-1221 model, the Euro-4 environmental standard, has been developed for the Turkish market.

The initial investment in this project is $17 million. The ratio of shares is 50/50. Ganja Automobile Plant has invested its share in the project from the funds raised from Azerbaijani and Turkish investors.

After investing the planned $17 million, the plant’s production capacity will be increased to 5,000-7,000 tractors per year. The production chain will be as follows: 70% of large nodes will be delivered from Belarus to the Ganja Automobile Plant, from where, after processing, they will be sent for final assembly in Kırıkkale. 30% of components will be of Azerbaijani production.

In the future, after about three to four years, it is also planned to organize the production of some types of spare parts at the Kırıkkale plant.

The total area of Turkish production is 7,000 square meters. Kırıkkale is located 80 km from Ankara.