OREANDA-NEWS. April 19, 2012. Top managers of KAMAZ participated in the first meeting of the Expert Council on the innovative development of the automobile and special equipment industry which was chaired by State Duma deputy Alfiya Kogogina.

The Council was established under the State Duma Industry Committee with the purpose of joining efforts of auto makers, components manufacturers, and the most authoritative experts in this field to form an effective legislative framework promoting the innovative development of the Russian automobile industry. It includes all manufacturers of domestic and foreign equipment, representatives of various ministries, departments, and the most competent experts of the industry. The first meeting was devoted to the issues of realization of the Automobile Industry Development Strategy until 2020.

In her opening speech, Alfiya Kogogina said that it was important to legislatively support Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s initiatives to develop the automotive industry which he had voiced at a meeting in Togliatti. "The made decisions will help the country develop the automobile industry under rigorous conditions of entry into the World Trade Organization,” Mrs. Kogogina said. “It is clear that these initiatives will require the most appropriate legal support. The task of the State Duma, as legislators, is to provide a legal framework for implementation of these decisions."

In her address, Alfiya Kogogina said that it was necessary to attract attention to the problems of the domestic auto industry. According to her, the world practice shows that the development of the automobile industry leads to a multiplier effect in related industries and a sustainable growth of employment. One job in the automobile industry generates up to 7-8 workplaces in related branches, and up to 10 workplaces, with trade taken into account. The number of people employed in the manufacture of vehicles and automobile components in Russia varies from 2.5 to 3 million people of almost 78 million people capable of working. Moreover, the automotive industry is one of the largest consumers of raw materials, fuel and energy resources. Every year the Russian automotive industry consumes more than 17 million tons of equivalent fuel, including natural gas, fuel oil, coal, coke, hot water, steam, and electric power. As for material resources, the automotive industry annually uses more than 5 million tons of rolled steel products, which is about 7-9% of its total production volume in the country. It is the development of automobile industry in Russia that will lead to the growth of metallurgy, petrochemical, textile, electronic and other industries, and therefore the overall economic development.

Alfiya Kogogina briefly analyzed an impact of transport on the environment and high priority activities aimed at the renovation of the fleet. According to her, almost 70% of Russia`s fleet is vehicles complying with Euro 0 and Euro 1 emission standards. 80% of all automobile emissions are produced by such vehicles. If at least 30% of these vehicles are taken out of service, the air will be twice as clean as it is now. These figures evidence the fact that it is necessary to renovate Russia’s fleet as soon as possible. Mrs. Kogogina believes that one of the measures to achieve this goal is to recycle old trucks and buses.

"Our task is to combine efforts of all Russian auto makers and form an authoritative platform promoting initiatives for the development of the Russian automobile industry,” she said.

The meeting of the Expert Council resulted in a number of legislative initiatives for the implementation of the Automobile Industry Development Strategy until 2020 which Alfiya Kogogina intends to summarize and submit for consideration to the State Duma.