BELARUS: President Alexander Lukashenko attended the opening of Stadler’s factory in Fanipol on November 20.
The factory was built on a greenfield site in the town outside Minsk and will be used for the production of Kiss and Flirt trains, as well as trams, for the CIS market.
The total cost of the factory was €73m, with the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development providing loans worth €26m.
In 2007 Stadler AG created a joint venture with the Minsk Region Executive Committee, which included the tram and trolleybus manufacturing facilities of local rolling stock maker Belkommunmash. Stadler subsequently bought out the minority stake to become the sole owner of Stadler Minsk in May 2014.
