Premium limousines and Haier’s opponent to invest nearly 8 billion in Alabuga

Aurus in Alabuga is under Putin’s control

On Wednesday, 11 November, the Supervisory Board of Alabuga Special Economic Zone approved two new projects. Their total investments are estimated at 7,8 billion rubles.

A project on Aurus Russian premium-class car production was presented first. Its location in Yelabuga was finally officially approved four years later. At the meeting of the Supervisory Board, Director General of Aurus LLC Adil Shirinov and Managing Director of the Emirates’s Tawazun Strategic Development Fund Al Jaabari presented the project officially, says the Tatarstan president’s press service.

It is noted that the Aurus cars will be made in plants of Synergy 2 industrial park. The total investments in the project are assessed at 6,6 billion rubles. The foundation invested about €110 million.

Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov drew the attention of the audience to the meaning of the project: it is under Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal control. The production of Aurus will become Tatarstan’s first project with investments from the UAE.

“It is especially pleasant that these investments are aimed to create the production in Alabuga Special Economic Zone. I am sure that the implementation of this project will allow bringing Russia and the UAE together,” Minnikhanov concluded. Moreover, he is the chairman of Russia — Islamic World Strategic Vision Group.

Next production of fridges from China

China’s largest manufacturer of household appliances Midea is planning to enter Alabuga SEZ with a fridge production project. Investments in the project are estimated at a billion rubles. Continent Production Solutions PLC is a Russian partner of the Group from the PRC.

Midea’s Vice President Mr Jiang teleconferenced Kazan to present the project. He said that the plant would be located in Synergy 2 industrial park on an area of over 24,000 square metres. He noted that the localisation in Alabuga was “important long-term” for the Chinese company.

In the future, Midea hopes to also start making components and microelectronics for household appliances. A corresponding memorandum was signed by Chinese guests, their Russian partners and the management of the SEZ.

According to SPARK-Interfax, Continent Production Solutions PLC was registered only on 20 October. Dmitry Kaydash who chaired the launch of another manufacturer of household appliances — Haier — in Naberezhnye Chelny in the middle of the decade is said to be the director of the company.

History of arrival of Russian limousines in Yelabuga

The idea of creating the first Russian limousine appeared in the Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute in 2011. The code name Motorcade Project was made up at that moment. The new Russian premium car formed as a platform in 2013. The institute’s specialists managed to design the Russian Rolls-Royce by 2016. The institute registered it in the Federal Service for Intellectual Property together with the name Aurus. The “presidential” car was promised to be launched in the Russian market in 2018.

The car was shown in action for the first time in the spring of 2018, during Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration. However, its sales didn’t begin by July 2018. It seems that the project didn’t have enough funding. By that moment, the authorities solemnly announced investments from the UAE. Tawazun Strategic Development Fund agreed to invest in the Russian limousine. It was decided to divide the shares in the following way: Tawazun would get 30% in the project of Aurus, the institute will keep 60% and Sollers will hold around 5%. Later, it became known that the fund from the UAE would increase its share to 36%, while Sollers, in contrast, would reduce its shares to 0,5%.

In December 2018, head of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov announced that Aurus would be manufactured in Sollers’s plant in Tatarstan. He promised that the mass production of the premium cars would already begin in the middle of 2020. It seems that the COVID-19 pandemic spoiled these plans a bit.

Alabuga’s Supervisory Board repeatedly discussed the implementation of Aurus project. In December 2019, Ford Sollers Yelabuga said about the preparation of production sites to make the premium cars.