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is an open city, which always welcomes guests,” the mayor said.
9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.2 Automotive corporate news
Belarus and China continue negotiations over possible joint production of electric cars , Belarusian Industry Minister Pavel Utyupin told a government meeting on February 21. "The negotiations are not finished yet. The car assembly plant BelGee can do welding, assembly, paint work. All of it allows us to implement the automobile engineering potential in the future," government news agency BELTA quoted Utyupin as saying. In June 2018, the Belarusian government said that China is interested in assembling electric cars at the BelGee factory in Belarus. BelGee, a Belarus-China joint venture that assembles Geely cars near Borisov in the Minsk region, launched its new unit in 2017 with an annual output capacity of up to 60,000 Geely cars. The new plant will be equipped to assemble CKD (complete knock-down) kits. BelGee currently uses SKD (semi-knock-down) kits. The company, which was set up in December 2011, currently assembles 10,000 cars per year. In 2016, BelGee increased sales by 12.3% year-on-year to 5,721 vehicles.
Sino-Belarus carmaker joint venture BelGee intends to double car sales on the Belarusian market , Belarusian First Deputy Industry Minister, BelGee Acting Director General Gennady Svidersky said at a press conference on 22 February. The official said: “Deliveries to Russia continue. Last year the share of sales in Russia totalled 65%, with the rest sold in Belarus. We expect roughly the same figure this year although we would like to double sales on the Belarusian market. Anyway, our marketing projections mention it.” In 2018 natural persons represented 65% of BelGee car buyers while corporations accounted for 35% of the total number. “In 2018 we had to commission the factory, test all the modifications. The commercial production of two crossovers and one sedan began. We received a total of 27 modifications and six colors. We offer modifications to the market depending on demand. So far the enterprise has made over 10,000 cars. It now employs 1,200 people. They are trained. We are fully staffed for the full-scale operation of one shift. We offered a new modification – 1.8 Turbo – to the market on 13 February. We see an increased interest in it and hear good feedback,” Gennady Svidersky said. BelGee has secured a localization rate of 50%. “Powertrains, rear and front axles, tires, car batteries are made in Belarus. The process to increase the localization rate continues this year. Since we now make seats, radiators, and engines, we will have to increase the localization of production of these components. We intend to do that in 2019 and 2020,” the official said.
9.2.6 Agriculture corporate news
Ukrainian sunflower oil producer Kernel has purchased a 5.85% interest in ViOil Holding Ltd (ViOil), according to the company’s statement published on February 19. ViOil controls two multi-crushing plants with a total annual capacity of 1.1mn tonnes of sunflower seeds and silo facilities in western Ukraine. The company also said it has "entered into a customary shareholder agreement in relation to ViOil with its existing shareholders," according to the statement. Andriy Perederey at Kyiv-based brokerage Concorde Capital
33 BELARUS Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com