Russia’s largest heavy truck manufacturer Kamaz, based in the republic of Tatarstan, plans to halt production for one week in February and in March, the Kommersant business daily quoted the company’s deputy general director for personnel and organisational development Ilshat Khaziyev as saying.
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Production will be stopped from February 3 to 10 and from March 3 to 10, while workers will be paid 66% of their usual wages for the periods.
Kamaz’ deputy general director for corporate strategy Ildar Khalikov said at a meeting on Saturday that “we have learnt to work well. Kamaz can produce the 2,000 trucks stipulated by our monthly business plan in two-three weeks. That is why we have a long time to relax.”
According to Kommersant, Kamaz faces severe competition from used foreign trucks, a common situation in both Russia’s car and truck industries.
According to Khalikov, out of 51,000 Kamaz-class trucks sold in Russia last year, 18,000 were seven-10 year old imported vehicles.
Earlier this month Kamaz said in a statement that it produced 20,056 trucks in 2002, down 10.6% on the year, attributing the fall to a decline in demand for Russian-produced trucks given the increased sales of foreign-made trucks in Russia.
It noted that Kamaz’ share of the Russian vehicle market had fallen from 43% to 29%, without providing a time frame.
The company has been trying to improve the situation by reducing its workforce.
Last December Kamaz general director Sergei Kogogin signed a directive to fire 2,500 managers but the attempt was rejected by Tatarstan governmental bodies.
Tatarstan’s first deputy prime minister Ravil Muratov told Kommersant that he agreed that it was necessary to fire at least 15,000 of Kamaz’s 55,000 current employees but the workers should only be moved to new jobs created with the backing of Kamaz and its shareholders.
Kamaz’s major shareholders include Russia’s property ministry with a 34.01% stake, Russia’s major state-owned bank Vneshtorgbank (VTB) with a 19.4% stake, the Tatarstan administration with 11.2% and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with 6.79%.
