Minsk Automobile Plant

Minsk Automobile Plant
MAZ or Minski Autamabilny Zavod

Native name	Minski Autamabilny Zavod
Company type	State-owned enterprise
Industry	Automotive
Founded	July 16, 1944 (1944-07-16)
Headquarters	Minsk , Belarus
Area served	Russia Eastern Europe
Key people	Valery Ivankovich
Products	Trucks, buses, trolleybuses
Revenue	1,490,387,000 Belarusian ruble (2020)
Net income	US$ 167 million (2011)
Owner	Belarusian government (100%)[1]
Number of employees	16,594 (2016)[1]
Website	maz.by/en

Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) (Belarusian: Адкрытaе Акцыянэрнaе Таварыства «Мінскі аўтамабільны завод», Open JSC Minski Autamabilny Zavod, Russian: Минский автомобильный завод Minskij Avtomobilnyj Zavod) is a state-run automotive manufacturer association in Belarus, one of the largest in Eastern Europe.

History

After a decision by the Soviet Industrial command in August 1944, the plant was begun as the Second World War ended.^[2] The first MAZ model, the MAZ-200, entered production in 1949. This truck used General Motors-designed two-stroke engines and was a continuation of a truck developed by the Yaroslavl Motor Plant (YaMZ), who also built the engines.^[2] Later on, YaMZ's own original engines were developed and implemented in the MAZ-500 series which was first shown in 1955, but only reaching full series production in 1965.^[3]

Apartment buildings, shops, medical clinics, cinemas etc. were built in close proximity to the MAZ plant, providing plant workers with local (though limited) necessities. On many of the construction sites, German prisoners of war were working together with Belarusian construction workers.

It manufactures heavy-duty

On 21 June 2021, MAZ (as well as its general manager Ivankovich) was added to the sanctions list of the European Union for repressions against workers who participated in mass protests against the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko following the controversial presidential election of 2020. According to the official decision of the EU,

"[MAZ] is a source of revenue for the Lukashenka regime. OJSC MAZ has offered its premises and equipment to stage a political rally in support of the regime. Therefore, OJSC “MAZ” benefits from and supports the Lukashenka regime."^[5]

Moreover,

Employees of OJSC “MAZ” who took part in strikes and peaceful protests in the aftermath of fraudulent August 2020 elections in Belarus, were intimidated and later laid off by the company’s managements. A group of employees was locked indoors by OJSC MAZ to prevent them from joining the other protesters. Therefore, MAZ is responsible for the repression of civil society and supports the Lukashenka regime.

On the same day, MAZ and Ivankovich were also sanctioned by Canada.^[6] Later, Switzerland also sanctioned the company and its general manager.^[7][8]

In March 2023, the U.S. Treasury included MAZ and Ivankovich in the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List.^[9] In May 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions against the plant, followed by the U.S. sanctions on exports in 2024.^[10]

Organization

The association consists of the MAZ plant proper, located in Minsk, which is the main enterprise of the association, as well as several secondary enterprises:

• РУП «БААЗ» (in Baranavichy)
• РУП «ОЗАА» (in Asipovichy)
• РУА «КЗТШ» (in
  Zhodino
  )
• РУП «Літмаш» (in Minsk),
• ПРУП «ДЭМЗ» (in Dzyarzhynsk)
• РУП «СтройМАЗтрест» (in Minsk)

At some points of its history, MAZ was "united" with another heavy automobile company -

In 1991, a division specialising in heavy wheeled military vehicles was spun off into a separate business, MZKT.^[11]

MAZ is 100% state-owned company.^[1]

Products

Among other products, MAZ city buses (see pictures below) are operating throughout Belarus, as well as in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Latvia and Estonia.^[12]

In Serbia, working in cooperation with a local-based company BIK (Bus industries Kragujevac), a production of gas-powered buses named BIK-203 has been agreed, which are based on the platform of MAZ-203 model.^[13][14]

MAZ-MAN

In 1997, together with MAN, a joint Belarusian-German company JSC MAZ-MAN, was set up, which by 1998 had established full-scale production of heavy vehicles, using the F90 MAN cabs introduced 1986 and replaced in 1994. While production of tractors for international trade with 4x2 and 6x4 chassis layouts was a stated goal, development of exhaust gas regulations within the EU turned this into illusion.

Models

Cars

• MAZ-1500 (1959, MAZ's only car)

Trucks

• 
  MAZ-203 and MAZ-206 buses
• 
  MAZ-447131
• 
  Tipper, with the MAN F90 cab

Buses

• MAZ-101 (1993, based on Neoplan N4016)
• MAZ-103 Omnibus (1996, based on MAZ-101)
• MAZ-103T Trolleybus (1999)
• MAZ-104 (1997, based on MAZ-103)
• MAZ-105 articulated (1997, based on MAZ-103)
• MAZ-107 three axle (2001, based on MAZ-103)
• MAZ-152 city bus (1999)
• MAZ-163
• MAZ-171 Airport bus (2005)
• MAZ-203 Omnibus (2006)
• MAZ-203T Trolleybus (2006)
• MAZ-205 (2009)
• MAZ-206 Omnibus (2006)
• MAZ-207
• MAZ-215 (2014)
• MAZ-216 (2018)
• MAZ-226 (2007)
• MAZ-231
• MAZ-241
• MAZ-251 Tourist (2006)
• MAZ-256 Omnibus (2006)
• MAZ-257 (2019)
• MAZ-271 (2020)
• MAZ-281 (2019)
• MAZ-303 (2019)

Special models

• MAZ-535/MAZ-537 - The MAZ-535 and the heavier version MAZ-537 were developed in the early 1960s and built to transport rockets and tanks of various types.
• SS-20 missiles or the MAZ-7917 as a launch pad of Topol
  intercontinental missile.
• MAZ-547/MAZ-7916 - The MAZ-547 is a six-axle version of the MAZ-543 and was used for the RSD-10 Pioneer IRBM. The MAZ-7916, an improved version, was released in 1980.
• MAZ-7904 - The MAZ-7904 is the largest wheeled vehicle that was ever designed for military purposes in the USSR. The prototype was designed in 1982 as a support vehicle for intercontinental ballistic missiles, but never went into production. The vehicle was found in 2007 in a hangar at Baikonur, but was scrapped in 2010 due to severe corrosion.^[15][16][17]
• MAZ-7906/
  Transporter-erector-launcher intended to transport the Tselina-2 missile, a projected road-mobile variant of the RT-23 Molodets
  . In 1985, the 12-axle MAZ-7907 was developed, also intended for the Tselina-2. Two prototypes were produced, but despite successful factory trials, no production followed. At least one seems to have been used after the collapse of the USSR for transportation of bridge parts and ships. One unit is stored at the Minsk Wheel Tractor plant awaiting restoration.
• МАZ-7912/MAZ-7917 - The MAZ-7912 is a seven-axle, 14 wheel TEL for the Topol missile. In 1984, the MAZ-7917 was released, lengthened 1 m (3.3 ft) and had crew cabins similar to the MAZ-7916.

• 
  MAZ-537
• 
  MAZ-543
• 
  MAZ-7917

Generations

No	Years of release	Features	Image
1	1950—1965	MAZ-200-series
2	1965—1977	MAZ-500-series
3	1977—1990	MAZ-5334/35-series
4	since 1981	MAZ-6422/5432-series
5	since 1997	MAZ-6430/5440-series

Sponsorship in football

• 1999–2002: Torpedo-MAZ Minsk

Gallery

Buses

• 
  MAZ-105 bus
• 
  MAZ-103 city bus (yellow) in Constanța, Romania
• 
  MAZ-103 city bus (pink) in Constanța, Romania
• 
  MAZ-103 city bus in Iași, Romania
• 
  Restyled MAZ-103 bus in Kazan, Russia
• 
  MAZ-103

  CNG
• 
  MAZ-103T trolleybus in Minsk
• 
  MAZ-107 city bus in Constanța, Romania
• 
  MAZ-203 and MAZ-206 buses
• 
  MAZ-251 coach in Munich
• 
  MAZ-206 at Kim Mã Terminal, Hanoi, Vietnam
• 
  MAZ-203T trolleybus in Galați, Romania
• 
  MAZ-215 articulated bus in Kyiv, Ukraine
• 
  MAZ-303 bus

Trucks

• 
  MAZ-5551
• 
  9K72 Elbrus launcher (9P117)
• 
  MAZ-543 airport tender, airport in Kyrgyzstan
• 
  Fire truck ATs 5,0-50-4 on MAZ-5337A2 -01
• 
  MAZ-5337 Firetruck in Baranavichy, Belarus
• 
  MAZ-6440 conventional cab tractor unit
• 
  MAZ-4571 box truck
• 
  MAZ-6501 flatbed truck with trailer
• 
  MAZ-5440 semi-trailer truck
• 
  MAZ-6516 concrete mixer truck
• 
  MAZ-6430 tractor unit towing a tank trailer at the border between Armenia and Iran
• 
  MAZ-6312 milk tank truck
• 
  MAZ-6516 dump truck (orange)
• 
  MAZ-6312 logging truck in Minsk

Notes

References

• Peter J. Davies: Trucks of the World - The encyclopedia of makes and models from 2002. Motor Book, Stuttgart.
  ISBN 3-613-02257-5
  .

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minsky Avtomobilny Zavod.

• Official site
• Official Maz-Man website
• MAZ - russian history

53°51′44″N 27°39′15″E / 53.86222°N 27.65417°E / 53.86222; 27.65417