Vitebsk plant "STR" will join the machine-tool cluster of the Chelyabinsk region

Vitebsk LLC "Zavod "STR" intends to promote the interests of Belarusian machine tool manufacturers in the Southern Urals region. In the near future, the company will register a joint venture there with a Russian partner and commence production activities for manufacturing machining centers.

Belarusian machine tool industry's interest in cooperation within the territorial cluster being created in the Chelyabinsk region was declared by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting with its governor Boris Dubrovsky in Minsk in April. This Russian region has a significant need for modern machine tools and mechanisms, while for a considerable part of the post-Soviet period, it relied on imported equipment.

Under the new economic conditions, influenced also by political factors, local authorities aim to overcome this painful dependence through accelerated development of the machine tool industry in the region. Boris Dubrovsky is considered the ideologist and driving force behind the cluster creation project (simply put, an association of enterprises located in one territory to pursue a coordinated production policy). He is convinced that this industry should become a growth point for the entire economy of the Southern Urals. And the Vitebsk plant "STR", which has long-standing and strong ties with the machine-building region, was the first among domestic enterprises to receive an offer for cooperation and assistance in establishing import-substituting production facilities.

Vyacheslav Krivoshey, Director of the STR plant, told Vitebskiye Vesti that at the initial stage, partners agreed to jointly invest at least 1 million euros in the project implementation. Organizational issues are currently being resolved, the production site has already been determined, personnel are being selected, and the product line of the joint venture is being clarified. The Russian side is very interested in organizing the production of machining centers. Since 2010, the Vitebsk enterprise has been part of the AXA group of companies (Germany) and specializes in the production of similar equipment, using advanced technologies and working with the technical support of Western specialists. In the future, at the Chelyabinsk site, Vitebsk machine tool builders intend to add special machine tools for the shipbuilding industry, medical equipment, and other equipment from the STR plant's catalog to their product range.

“The implementation of the project will allow us to increase production volumes and expand product sales markets, including due to the fact that our Chelyabinsk enterprise will be a resident of the Russian Federation, meaning it will receive significantly greater freedom of action in this market,” emphasized Vyacheslav Krivoshey.

Furthermore, the Vitebsk plant faced obstacles in interacting with Russian shipbuilding yards, despite being perhaps the only manufacturer in the post-Soviet space with the technical and technological capabilities, and most importantly, extensive experience in producing specialized machine tools for this industry. After joining the cluster, such problems will be resolved, and "STR" intends to increase cooperation with shipbuilders.

Additionally, the Vitebsk company is ready to undertake obligations for promoting the products of machine-building enterprises of the Dvina region as a whole to the market of the Asian part of Russia.

– Indeed, sometimes during interaction with a customer, it turns out that they have a need for a wider range of products. Being well-versed in market conditions, we can provide qualified information about the full range of machine tools produced in the Vitebsk region, after which, to complete the deal, we can redirect the potential buyer directly to the enterprise in the Dvina region whose products have interested them, – noted Vyacheslav Krivoshey.

Today, the organizers of the future joint venture already have a number of orders, so immediately after the completion of formal procedures, it will commence production activities. Confidence in a successful launch is also given by the fact that the cluster is located in a territory of advanced development with a special legal regime for entrepreneurial and other activities. This is one of the new tools of state support that is actively being implemented in Russia.

Sergey Antonov, "Vitebskiye Vesti".