Nikolai Merkushkin: "We must breathe new life into Volzhsky Machine Building Plant"

20 February 2014

Source: Information portal VOLGA NEWS

On Thursday, the 20th of February, governor Nikolai Merkushkin undertook a work meeting with the general director of Stankoprom OJSC and RT-Stankoinstrument Sergei Makarov. Stankoprom OJSC is currently the proprietor of Volga Machine Building Plant, LLC (VMZ) and is part of the structure of GK Rostech.

Presently, a complex situation at VMZ, caused by a fall in the volume of orders, is getting even more difficult. On the 16th of January of this year, Nikolai Merkushkin visited the company and in the course of the meeting with the collective he assured that regional authorities would render all necessary support to the enterprise.

It is worth mentioning, that the enterprise produces a wide spectrum of products: from modern machine tools to car cables. In the course of the meeting between the regional head and the new proprietor the issue of the prospective development of the quite unique plant became clear.

“The Volga Machine Building Plant possesses a gigantic potential, highly professional personnel, and modern equipment. This is multifaceted enterprise, and we are sure that with your help we can breathe new life into it”, said Nikolai Merkushkin, addressing Sergei Makarov.

The head of the region underlined that without development of the domestic machine building industry it will be impossible for the country to move forward. Sergei Makarov in turn pointed out that currently VMZ is a working enterprise, for which stepping up to a new level of development is necessary to solve a slew of problems.

“After the failure of AutoVAZ to buy VMZ’s products, the enterprise, essentially, could not form its own client base, as current assets did not suffice. One of the main tasks currently is to rebuild VMZ’s work, and make it into a profitable enterprise”, commented Sergei Makarov.

Stankoprom OJSC plans to organize on the plant the production of competitive modern machine tools, which will be supplied to the company Rostech and other Russian factories within the framework of a federal program of technical re-equipment.

The head of the region was interested in how soon production of the new product lines could start. Sergei Makarov explained, that an agreement had already been concluded regarding collaboration with a German company that provides next generation manufacturing technology and in the near future VMZ would produce its first batch of modern machine tools.

Moreover, Nikolai Merkushkin was interested by the issue of maintaining the production of automobile cables at VMZ. This activity, though it is nonessential for the plant, occupies a rather large part of the overall volume of manufactured goods. The general director of Stankoprom OJSC assured the regional head that manufacture would be maintained.

“There is a demand for competitive products in the market. In our plans there will be car cables not only for domestic car factories, but also for foreign companies, which have stationed their production in the territory of Russia”, stated Sergei Makarov.

“Regional authorities are interested in the creation, on the basis of VMZ, of a high-tech enterprise, and are ready to render all the support necessary to the enterprise and to work in tight contact with GK Rostech”-said the governor of the Samara Region, summarizing the visit.

In the course of the work meeting the parties also discussed the development of an intraprovincial manufacturing cooperative of large industrial enterprises.