MINSK, 27 October (BelTA) – Stadler Minsk is not only a successful business, but also a good employer, Minsk Oblast Governor Aleksandr Turchin said as he visited the enterprise, a resident company of the free economic zone Minsk and the country's leading manufacturer of rolling stock, BelTA learned from the press service of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee.
Aleksandr Turchin saw the main production facilities, from the machine shop to the startup shop. He was also shown a new converter manufacturing facility that will be commissioned in the coming days.
According to Stadler Minsk CEO Philipp Brunner, the new mini-factory will create 140 jobs and will operate two shifts at its full capacity. There are plans to produce 450 converters per year here. “Today Stadler Minsk independently develops and manufactures power converters for light rail transport. Our products are used to equip the Metelitsa tram wagons operated by Transport Concession Company in Saint Petersburg and in Cochabamba, as well as trains for the Minsk metro. The new production facility will allow increasing the output and the assortment range,” Philipp Brunner said.
This year, investments have been earmarked for the construction of two logistics centers with an area of 18,000m2 and three production facilities with an area of 7,000m2, as well as for the expansion of the machining shop, the body shop and the rolling stock startup shop. Thanks to this, the company is set to produce 500 wagons per year starting from 2021 (400 wagons are to be manufactured this year). The increased output will allow the Belarusian enterprise to become the most powerful factory in the Stadler Rail Group. It is the second most powerful factory so far. A new modern cafeteria for the personnel is also under construction.
“Our company operates three shifts, besides, many members of our team are not locals, they commute from Minsk and Dzerzhinsk, therefore, we try to create the most comfortable working conditions for them. It's no secret that a good employee is a well-fed employee. We have a cafeteria where about 600 people eat every day on average. We believe that even more employees will be able to take advantage of the new dining facility. Moreover, Stadler Minsk covers half of the cost of meals provided on its premises; and the food supplier is chosen by employees based on the prices and quality they offer. We also take care of employee transportation. The company bus transports more than 500 people from Minsk and Dzerzhinsk every day,” the CEO said.
Stadler Minsk manufactures a wide range of rolling stock: single-decker and double-decker trains, electric and diesel-electric trains, sleeping cars, trams and metro trains, and also provides warranty and post-warranty maintenance of the supplied rolling stock. Since 2014, the company has been manufacturing and supplying rolling stock for the broad-gauge railway (1520 or 1524 mm track gauge) to the CIS countries, Europe and Latin America.
In 2020, the company is running contracts to supply ten five-car FLIRT electric trains for Belarusian Railways, four diesel-electric FLIRT trains and six FLIRT electric trains for Azerbaijan Railways, 155 single-decker electric trains for Norwegian State Railways, 40 double-deckers for Hungarian State Railways. Aluminum bodies and electrical components are also supplied to Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Poland.
