SHKLOV, 27 March (BelTA) – The volume of production of passenger vehicles is increasing in Belarus, BelTA learned from Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Piotr Parkhomchik during a solemn ceremony held on 27 March to hand over 15 passenger electrobuses to Shklov District.
Piotr Parkhomchik said: “Taking into account the electric vehicle acquisition tasks we had to accomplish in 2023, we did not completely fulfill the available orders. Some orders rolled over into Q1 2024. And we have fulfilled them. Output figures are rising at Minsk Automobile Plant and Belkommunmash.”
According to the deputy prime minister, industrial enterprises have to increase the output and satisfy the entire demand for electrobuses.
“There are plenty of orders. And increasing the production of passenger transport is a complicated task. For instance, Belkommunmash used to make 130-140 vehicles per annum on the average. Last year it made about 260-270 vehicles of all kinds,” he said. “Getting closer to 400 is another task. We understand how complicated this task is for the enterprise, however, we demand that the appropriate manufacturing capacity should be created and the factory should reach the specified output figures, including trams, trolleybuses with autonomous travel capabilities, and electrobuses.”
A solemn ceremony took place in Shklov on 27 March to hand over 15 passenger electrobuses made by BKM Company (previously known as Belkommunmash) to Shklov District. This important and much-needed gift became the first realization of a pilot project, which envisages the use of electric vehicles in Belarusian cities. Industry Minister Aleksandr Rogozhnik noted that this project has several important aspects: economy, ecology, and image.
“It is a combination of all these factors. After all, modern electrobuses not only save diesel fuel. They help resolve ecological problems, which are topical in every region now,” he said. “These days the electrobus is the most contemporary kind of transportation. And our vehicles are at least on par with foreign analogues. And the enterprise that has fulfilled the order for Shklov District has plenty of orders not only for 2024. We are signing contracts for 2025 as well. The industrial output doubles year after year.”
A solemn event to hand over new passenger electrobuses will take place in Zhodino tomorrow. It will mark another stage of implementation of the pilot project.
“The relevant program to develop electric transportation has been signed on the scale of the country. And certainly, with assistance of oblast governors we are going to realize such pilot projects across the country as a whole. Once we evaluate results of the work of the electrobuses in Mogilev Oblast and Minsk Oblast, we will continue this program,” Aleksandr Rogozhnik summarized.
