Industrial Complex
The Belarusian industry is the largest sector of national economy, which is essentially affecting the dynamics of all its indicators. Industrial enterprises produce 27-28% of the national GDP and make their significant contribution into formation of the state budget and off-the-budget funds. Nearly 90% of all exports are industrial products, defining the country's position in the international division of labour and ensuring the major share of foreign currency revenues.
Belarus operates over 23,000 industrial enterprises and manufacturing facilities. Belarusian industry is notable for a high degree of production concentration. About 10% of industrial enterprises make more than 60% of industrial output. High concentration level is observed in the fuel industry, ferrous metallurgy, chemical and petrochemical industries, where the share of three largest enterprises is 60% of the total sector's output.
The industry is the most dynamically developing sector of the economy, with the highest output growth rate in recent years, which defined the dynamics of the national GDP. In 2008, the priority growth rates were recorded in machine-building and metalworking (110.2%), construction materials industry (110.2%) and forestry, woodworking and pulp-and-paper industry (108.6%).
In the near-term prospect, the main targets of the industrial policy will be as follows:
• Ensuring steadily high growth rates of industrial output on the basis of modernization and reconstruction of existing facilities;
• Improving the structure of economy branches by intensified development of export-oriented and import-substituting, high-tech and scienceintensive
industries with high added value.
For implementing the priority directions of industry development, the following steps are assumed:
- Creation of high-precision automated equipment, including flexible industrial modules and tools;
- Design of physical, chemical and biotechnological processes for production of new substances and materials of various functionality, including nanomaterials and nanotechnologies, new technologies of fabrication, hardenings and restoration of metal and non-metal items;
- Creation of systems and instruments for making measurements, technical diagnostics, newgeneration optomechanical and optoelectronic products;
- Creation of a new generation of integrated hardware components for industrial and home appliances, equipment for manufacturing them, opto- and microwave electronics, and modern microsensors;
- Creation of new generations of road-building and special machinery, general-purpose transport means, and engines for them;
- Designing and commissioning of energy-saving equipment, materials and technologies, including those oriented towards use of local fuel and
energy resources, non-traditional and renewable energy sources;
- Creation of navigation-time support systems, computing means and systems, communication facility, including digital TV and the equipment for cable networks;
- Design and manufacture of automated control systems.
The machine-building complex of the Republic of Belarus possesses highly-technological production and scientific potentials and includes over 300 enterprises and productions. In 2008, the industrial output of the complex was 113.9% against the preceding year. It is assumed that highest growth rates will be achieved by exportoriented and import-substituting enterprises of the automotive industry, tractor and agricultural machine-building, microelectronics, instrumentmaking and optomechanical industry.
The major role in the national machine-building complex belongs to the automotive industry and agricultural machine-building, which are represented by a range of enterprises, the products of which are broadly known outside the country.
The largest enterprises of Belarusian automotive industry are the MAZ (Minsk Automobile Works) Republic's Unitary Enterprise (RUE), BelAZ Republic's Unitary Production Enterprise (RUPE), Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant, Open Joint Stock Company (OJSC) Minsk Bearing Plant and the "Amkodor" OJSC.
The Minsk Automobile Works (RUE MAZ) is one of the largest CIS-based manufacturers of heavy haulers, trailers and buses. Currently, it manufactures about 300 models and modifications of trucks and over 30 models of buses. Over half of the output is exported, the main sales markets being the regions of the Russian Federation.
In 2008, the Plant mastered the batch production of 28 new models and modifications of automotive machinery, including new generations of trucks, road, off-road and special machines, urban and intercity buses, meetingthe requirements of international standards on ecological compatibility and safety.
The Belarusian Automobile Works (RUPE BelAZ) specializes in manufacture of quarry heavy-duty dump trucks used for extraction of minerals in open deposits. The enterprise is among 7 largest world manufacturers and controls one third of the world market and 96% of Russian and CIS markets of such machines.
The RUPE BelAZ designs, manufactures and sells high and extra high carrying-capacity quarry dump trucks (from 30 to 320 tons), intended for transportation of rocks and other loose freights at open-cast mining sites of mineral deposits, at construction of hydro-technical structures. The enterprise also makes road-building equipment (front-end loaders and bulldozers), maintenance machinery for quarries and quarry equipment, specialized transport for the metallurgy industry (slag cars with loading capacity of up to 80 tons, heavy trucks for up to 150 tons), air field towers for aircraft with take-off weight of up to 260 tons.
In 2008, the enterprise started manufacturing quarry dump truck models BelAZ-75600 (load capacity of 320 tons) and BelAZ-75570 (90 tons).
The Minsk Bearings Plant OJSC is a manufacturer of over 600 sizes and modifications of bearings. Its production facilities can make about 35 million bearings per year. The Plant manufactures 6 main design groups of bearings (ball, needle, cardan, spherical roller, taper and joint-type bearings). All the design groups and models of bearings meet international standards, are interchangeable with foreignmade analogues and are competitive in the CIS and far abroad. The strategic goal of the Plant is to establish highly efficient productions compliant with the requirements of International Ecological Standards ISO 14001.
About 65% of the output is exported, including 55% – to the CIS member states, and 10% – to other foreign countries (29 countries of the world).
The "Amkodor" OJSC specializes in manufacturing of single- and multi-bucket loaders, fork lift loaders, dredgers, machines for lumbering and felling, log loaders and log elevators, machines and equipment for road building and maintaining, machines for urban municipal services, including snow removers and other machines. More than half of the products are exported. The main sales markets are regions of the Russian Federation.
The national tractor and agricultural machinery engineering can virtually fully satisfy the demand of the Belarusian agribusiness for the necessary machines and equipment. The industry comprises over 40 companies specialising in designing and manufacturing tractors and agricultural machines. The largest companies are Minsk-based tractor and engine plants, Gomselmash and Bobruiskagromash.
The Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ) is the main CIS manufacturer of wheel tractors. The output of the MTZ is covering not only the demand of Belarus, but ensures exports to the Russian Federation and other neighbouring and distant foreign countries.
The product line: wheel tractors, tractor kits and machines. In 2008, the enterprise mastered manufacturing BELARUS tractors of Classes 1, 4 and 2-3, and model BELARUS-3022. The products of the enterprise are exported to more than 125 countries.
The Minsk Engine Factory (PRUE MMZ) is the largest manufacturer of diesel engines (over 100 modifications). Tractor and automobile diesel engines ranging in capacity from 60 to 230 horsepower (h. p.) are manufactured; 60% of them sell domestically. In 2008, the enterprise introduced 4- and 6-cylinder automobile diesel engines, which meet the Euro-3 standard of 155-350 h. p., as well as diesel engines with capacity of up to 300 h. p., meeting modern requirements of Tier 2 (Stage 2) ecological safety for installation on harvesters and power-intensive tractors.
The "Gomselmash" Production Association (PA) is the largest CIS manufacturer of grain and fodder harvesters. All its products have conformity certificates. The Association has its service centres in the Republic of Belarus and abroad, there are shops for restoring harvester parts and units and warehouses of spare parts. In 2008, the enterprise introduced highperformance grain harvesters with throughput of 12 kg/s (KZS-1218) and 14 kg/s (KZ-14).
The OJSC "Lidselmash" is the largest producer of potato-growing equipment with 100-year experience in agricultural machine-building, currently producing over 45 types of mounted and trailed appliances, grain cleaning, drying and storing equipment.
The industrial potential of science-intensive machine-building sectors, namely, radioelectronics, optomechanics and instrumentmaking is an integrated system of production enterprises and R&D entities.
The instrument-making sector specializes in production of instruments and control devices, aircraft flight and navigation equipment, antilock brake systems (ABS) and other instruments. The radio-electronic and optomechanical industries have promoted development of new competitive products. The commercial production of submicron technology-based integratedmicrocircuits was launched.
In 2008, the UE Semi-Conductor Devices Factory developed 20 new types of microcircuits. Along with manufacture of technical and industrial goods, Belarus is one of the largest producers of particular types of consumer goods. In 2008, the largest manufacturers of TV-sets – the OJSC "Horizont" and RUPE "Vityaz" made their prototype models: LCD television receivers with screens of 26 and 32 inches (66 and 81.3 cm) for analogue and digital broadcasting; appliances for digital television of standard DVB MPEG-4; while the CJSC "Atlant", specializing in refrigerators and freezers, introduced automatic washing machines.
Now, the republic is implementing a number of state and R&D programmes aimed at developing and introducing new best-selling technical and industrial goods and consumer products, as well as at improved quality and increased competitiveness of introduced before products.
The consumer goods (light) industry operates over 300 enterprises, which produced in 2008 3.4% of the total industrial output and 12.3% of consumer goods. In the volume of non-food goods, the light industry makes 28.3%. The entities of the "Bellegprom" Concern produce about 80% of the total output of the sector.
In 2009, the investment activities of the sector's entities is aimed at complex technical upgrading of existing productions with repbeed by high tech, low-energy equipment aimed at boosting production of competitive products. In 2009, the entities will continue introducing new types of multilayered textile materials of household and technical purpose, modern assortment of yarn and knitted products from new chemical fibres and strings (yarn with contents of nitric fibres modified by a composite method for higher peeling stability, yarn with contents of polyester fibres of new modification with the optimized dyeing properties, as well as knitted products and cloths from combined shaped and air-connected strings with various effects). It is planned to introduce the production of small linear density yarns of worsted cotton spinning, multi-component flax-containing yarns produced by mechanical-air formation method.
Introduction of new technological processes will allow textile and knitwear enterprises to expand assortment of competitive products, as well as the scope of consumption of domestic raw materials – flax and chemical fibres.
The ferrous metallurgy of Belarus specialises in steel smelting, steel and cast-iron pipes, metal cord, hardware and other metal goods. The production is concentrated mainly at the premises of Belarusian Steel Works (BMZ trademark, the town of Zhlobin). Around 80% of the total production of the industry is concentrated there. Annual sales exceed $1 billion.
Chemical and petrochemical industry is one of the largest branches of the Belarusian industrial complex.
The largest enterprises in the branch are the enterprises producing mineral fertilizers: RUE "Belaruskali" Production Association (PA), OJSC "Grodno Azot" and OJSC Gomel Chemical Factory, which produce a broad range of potash, nitric and phosphoric fertilizers. Besides, the RUE "Belaruskali" PA and OJSC "Grodno Azot" are the major exporters of fertilizers.
Belarus produces all the main types of chemical fibres and yarns: polyamide (OJSC"Grodno Khimvolokno"), polyester (OJSC "Mogilevkhimvolokno" and RUE "Svetlogorsk Khimvolokno" PA), polyacrylonitrile (OJSC "Polimir"), viscose industrial and textile (RUE "Svetlogorsk Khimvolokno" PA and OJSC "Mogilyov ZIV").
In 2008, the output of chemical yarns and fibres was about 225,000 tons. The available capacities allow attaining the annual output of more than 260,000 tons.
Among the leaders of the branch is the OJSC "Belshina", one of the largest enterprises in Europe producing 192 sizes and exporting over 160 sizes of tires for passenger cars, lorries, heavy-duty trucks, buses, trolley buses, handling and road construction machines, tractors and agricultural machinery.
Within the framework of the investment project named "Production of All-Steel-Wire Radial Tires for Quarry Machines" the Company creates a new generation of tires for quarry equipment, equal by specifications to the leading foreign manufacturers and meeting the requirements of mining and mountain-concentrating standards of CIS member states, which purchase "Belshina" tires for their exported equipment.
The main development targets and priorities of the chemical and petrochemical industries are as follows: improved economic indicators of entities, increased outputs and exports, improved product quality and development of new products. Attaining of these goals will demand new technologies focused at resource-preservation,ecological compatibility and rational nature management.
Special attention will be given to complex processing of raw materials, replacement of reagents and materials, processing of production wastes.
