NABEREZNYE CHELNY – Kamaz is to invest €50 million to set up the assembly of its trucks in Senegal, company CEO Sergei Kogogin said at a press conference following the annual shareholders meeting on Friday.
“Agreements have been reached at the highest level; the Russian Export Center (EXIAR) is playing an important role in the project because it is providing insurance for all the deals. We are now at the stage where the Senegalese government is conducting the concluding round of talks with EXIAR on the provision of state guarantees for the deals that Kamaz are planning. These deals are worth over 50 million euros at stage one. We have already started design work on the Kamaz automobile assembly plant in Senegal. The Senegalese government has provided us with a 10,000 square meter building in an industrial park,” he said, adding that the company has already chosen a local partner.
Kogogin had earlier said that the company had agreed to ship 400 vehicles to Senegal. “The first delivery, the contract has already been signed for 400 vehicles. The matter of state guarantees (from the Senegalese government) is under consideration. Second is the move towards assembly production. I have met with the President (of Senegal) and understood that this is very important for him. Immediately after the meeting we were provided with the conditions for conducting business at the industrial park near Dakar,” the Kamaz chief had said.
The company said that sales of at least 500 cars per year are needed to set up assembly production.
Kamaz is Russia’s leading producer of trucks. The company plans to sell 38,000-39,000 vehicles in 2017.
Corporate entities own 98.34% of Kamaz shares, including the Rostec state corporation with 49.9%; Cyprus-registered Avtoinvest Limited with 23.54%, held on behalf of the former owners of investment company Troika Dialog and Kamaz CEO Sergei Kogogin; Daimler AG with 15%; U.S.-based KAMAZ International Management with 4.25%; and Kamaz Financial Leasing Company with 3.72%.
