Belarus sells more buses to Russia, analysts say

June 16, BPN. Belarus sold 159 new MAZ buses to Russia in May, a 26.2 percent increase from one year earlier, according to the Russian analysis agency Autostat.

MAZ buses ranked fourth in the Russian market, behind PAZ, LiAZ and NefAZ. They accounted for 10.1 percent of the market share.

The most popular model was MAZ-206, with 123 units sold.

Russian Ambassador Boris Gryzlov said Minsk Automobile Plant’s products were “in grade demand” during a meeting with Valeryj Ivankovič, the head of the Belavtomaz group of companies, in July 2022.

Ivankovič said Russia was “historically the main market” for the Belarusian company, which sells about 60-70 percent of its vehicles there.

MAZ is under US sanctions since March 2023. The US Department of the Treasury said that it was a major source of revenue for the regime of Alaksandr Łukašenka, and that MAZ employees were intimidated and fired for participating in peaceful protests after the 2020 presidential election.