OREANDA-NEWS.   Sergey Kogogin, Director General of KAMAZ, commented on the results of Saint Petersburg Economic Forum he had participated in for the company’s newspaper Vesti KAMAZa:
– The first thing I would like to emphasize is that the forum did take place despite today’s quite risky political situation. Of course, nobody doubted that it would be held, but there was no certainty that it would gather enough people. All companies which planned to take part in the forum were represented there.
The second significant impression is an address delivered by Russia’s President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. He told about the key points of this country’s development for several years ahead. They inspired me personally because they open up serious prospects for KAMAZ. Let’s take, for instance, Russia’s turn towards the East. Obviously, Russia needed to diversify raw material markets. The following is the construction of pipelines thousands of kilometers long: this investment project will require lots of equipment. This step will be a powerful spur to developing new deposits, building settlements, improving the infrastructure, etc.
Undoubtedly, KAMAZ is interested in RZD’s investment project to expand bottlenecks of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and other railway sections and a project to construct an encircling highway around Moscow. The traffic speed around the city will be higher, logistics costs will be lower and therefore long-haul tractors will be in great demand. I cannot but mention development projects in Crimea. Our vehicles will surely be called-for there too.
And another important announcement at the economic forum was that the country is ready to support non-resource industries. The president told about encouraging wider access to financial resources for businesses, about low-interest and long-term credits for them. An interest rate shouldn’t exceed an inflation rate by 1%. Also, it was promised to create a fund to support the domestic industry. According to the head of the state, the country’s authorities set a task to return the market, including the food sector, to national manufacturers.
I think that the main outcome of this event is consolidation of Russia’s society in today’s political environment. People united, and quick problem solving is about people working together. Now I’m sure that this country is ready for a new technological breakthrough.