Rustam Minnikhanov: “Tatarstan sees auto industry development as the main prospect”

The Republic of Tatarstan regards auto making as its machine building branch’s main prospect, the republic’s head Rustam Minnikhanov said after a meeting of the council of general and chief designers, leading scientists and high-technology economy sector specialists in Naberezhnye Chelny. The meeting on implementing advanced engineering technologies in auto design was chaired by Russia government’s vice-premier Sergey Ivanov.

The council of general and chief designers, leading scientists and high-technology economy sector specialists at the Russian Federation government’s chairman was set up on October 13, 2008. Its main tasks are analysis and developing recommendations on issues related to the state and trends of Russia’s industry’s development, state structural, innovative and research and development policy, as well as expert examination of large R&D investment and other programmes, projects and proposals submitted to the government.

Sergey Ivanov said while opening the meeting the domestic auto industry faced great tasks set out in the Russian auto industry development strategy until 2020.

“Cars are planned to be manufactured 3.15 million pieces a year, lightweight commercial vehicles 280 thousand a year, buses 35 thousand,” he said.

According to S. Ivanov, the share of added value in the auto industry should from the current 21 percent (492.8 billion roubles) grow to 48 percent (2.2 trillion roubles). The share of auto products exports within the total production should increase to 8 percent among cars, 14 percent among light commercial vehicles, 50 percent among trucks, 23 percent among buses. The share of import in monetary terms should decrease from 60 to 20 percent.

“You can see the focus is on trucks,” S. Ivanov stressed.

To achieve this, the vice-premier stated, Russia needs to eliminate its technological inferiority to the leading auto states not on all but on some criteria, which requires improving the infrastructure of the new auto vehicles and components R&D work.

Sergey Ivanov noted the new technologies should include calculation methods with use of supercomputers. “I want to do justice to Kamaz - it has already switched to design with the use of our new supercomputer nuclear centre in Sarov. This is a completely wholesome approach.”

Following the meeting, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov said the republic played an important role in Russian auto making. “The fact that the meeting is held at Kamaz is evidence to that Tatarstan is one of Russia’s auto centres. They are, first of all, Kamaz, Sollers that plans to open a large plant shows a serious pace. This is going to require serious support,” the Tatar chief claimed.

The republic’s authorities see the support in clustering in Tatarstan high-technology auto component companies. “We are a petrochemical republic, hold the lead in manufacturing plastics, and we need to focus the effort on producing auto components on our platforms – the special economic zone Alabuga and the KIP Master. We invite foreign companies here, some large companies already have joint ventures with Kamaz, Sollers has prospects. And we will keep on moving in this direction,” Tatarstan President pledged. “In terms of machine building, we see auto making as our chief prospect”.