Turchin visits BELGEE stamping shop construction site

This is the head of government’s second visit to the plant this year. In April, the main topic was the enterprise’s performance in 2025 and the overall prospects for the country’s passenger car industry. The BELGEE visit also addressed development plans, particularly the construction of an in-house stamping shop, due to open by the end of 2027. This will enable the plant to increase the output and localization. Today’s agenda focused on assessing the progress made and the plant’s key performance indicators.

As BELGEE Director Gennady Svidersky noted, since the plant began operations, over 400,000 vehicles have been produced, with more than 100,000 sold in Belarus. “We are constantly engaged in renewal, modernization, and renovation. Last year, we upgraded the paint shop. In 2018, the plant’s design capacity was 60,000 vehicles per year with a two-shift schedule. Now, the paint shop’s capacity has doubled to 120,000 vehicles. To achieve that, we needed to upgrade the equipment. We are now using state-of-the-art technology, which has increased productivity and reduced energy consumption. To balance these capacities, we also reconstructed the welding shop. In 2018, we had about 35 robots, but after last year’s reconstruction, we now have 70, twice as many. And reconstruction does not stop there. This year, we began construction of the stamping facility. Belarus is a machine-building country, but there is no automated stamping production for large components anywhere in the country. That is why we decided to build such a facility,” he said. 

In-house stamping, according to the director, will offer a number of advantages. “Metal body panels are the largest components supplied as part of the vehicle kit. Once we build the stamping facility, the number of containers required for delivery from China will decrease by 70%. We will stamp our own parts right here from metal. To ensure those parts then make it to the assembly line, we are simultaneously reconstructing the welding shop. Last year we increased the number of robots to 70, and by the time stamping shop work is complete, we will have 150. Work began in June. We are installing the steel framework and are already starting to close in the roof. We plan to organize construction work in September and October so that we can begin working inside the premises. And in 2027, we plan to start equipment installation to bring the stamping operation online. This will, first, save on logistics; second, increase the level of localization; and third, effectively complete the creation of a full-cycle plant. From there, we will simply need domestic components, and everything else required will be produced right here at this plant,” Gennady Svidersky emphasized.

Over the first eight months of 2026, BELGEE produced 73,673 vehicles worth Br3,856.5 million. A total of 42,147 vehicles were exported for $690 million, while 32,916 cars were sold on the domestic market for Br1,930 million.

Photos by Andrei Sinyavsky