Minsk Automobile Plant

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.
After a decision by the Soviet Industrial command in August 1944, the plant was begun as the Second World War ended. 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. 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.
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 trucks, buses, trolleybuses, road tractors and semi-trailers for semi-trailer trucks, and cranes. MAZ was, and possibly is, the world's largest manufacturer of TELs (Transporter-Erector-Launchers) for many of the world's mobile ballistic missiles, from the MAZ-543 used to carry and launch the Scud B through to the Topol M's 8-axle TEL.
In 2020, it was said that the MAZ was the primary supplier for the chassis of such Russian army vehicles as the launchers for the Iskander-M and the S-400 because the domestic Russian products are of comparatively low quality.
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,
Moreover,
On the same day, MAZ and Ivankovich were also sanctioned by Canada. Later, Switzerland also sanctioned the company and its general manager.
In March 2023, the U.S. Treasury included MAZ and Ivankovich in the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. In May 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions against the plant, followed by the U.S. sanctions on exports in 2024.
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:
At some points of its history, MAZ was "united" with another heavy automobile company - BELAZ also located in Minsk area.
In 1991, a division specialising in heavy wheeled military vehicles was spun off into a separate business, MZKT.
MAZ is 100% state-owned company.
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.
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.
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 a illusion.
53°51′44″N 27°39′15″E﻿ / ﻿53.86222°N 27.65417°E﻿ / 53.86222; 27.65417