Vedomosti learned about the risk of stopping the assembly of Russian cars in Kazakhstan

Vedomosti: Russian automakers may stop assembling their cars in Kazakhstan

Automakers are afraid of revising the salvage rates for cars on behalf of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the newspaper writes.

Russian automakers that have invested in assembling their cars in Kazakhstan may stop production in the country, writes newspaper Vedomosti, citing representatives of unnamed large domestic automakers.

Russian cars Lada and UAZ are assembled at the Saryarkaavtoprom plant in Kustanai, cars of the GAZ Group and Urals are assembled at the Semaz plant in Semipalatinsk (Semey). KamAZ has its own assembly plant in the Akmola region.

Automakers, according to the newspaper, are concerned about the order of the President of the Republic, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to revise the rates of recycling fees for cars.

Thus, according to a representative of KamAZ, the total investment in the company’s assets in Kazakhstan has already amounted to 12 billion tenge (2.16 billion rubles). Until 2024, the manufacturer of heavy trucks plans to invest almost 43 billion rubles more. in the development of its own foundry, he notes. The interlocutor of Vedomosti believes that in the event of the cancellation or a strong decrease in the scrappage fee, KamAZ may encounter problems with fulfilling its obligations to localize components in the country and difficulties with the implementation of investment projects. Now KamAZ Engineering produces about 2,000 trucks a year in the republic – almost a third of the concern’s total exports. Last year, the company began assembling fifth-generation KamAZ-54901 mainline tractors in Kazakhstan.

The OMG group (Ural brand) delivered 72 assembly kits to Kazakhstan in 2021, and another 113 units are planned to be delivered in 2022, its representative told the newspaper. If the scrappage fee is abolished, the market will equalize the prices of the local automaker and imports, and the cost of shipping and assembling car kits will continue to be included in the cost of cars produced by local assembly plants, which will affect competitiveness, he explains. In addition, the loss of the status of a domestic manufacturer will lead to blocking access to public procurement in Kazakhstan, the source points out.