OREANDA-NEWS. September 17, 2010. Sergey Kogoghin, Director General of OJSC KAMAZ, made a report “On Measures of Support and Development of Domestic Machine-Building in the Volga Federal District” at the interregional party conference of United Russia in Nizhny Novgorod.

After the top manager of KAMAZ had made his report, he talked with Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Prime Minister. Below is a transcript of their conversation from the official site of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Putin: In case some of you did not recognise the previous speaker, it was Sergey Kogoghin, Director General of OJSC KAMAZ.

There was an idea several years ago to transfer Mr Kogoghin from KAMAZ to another major Russian automobile plant. At the time President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev objected strongly, saying that Mr Kogoghin was doing an excellent job and was a highly efficient manager. I agree with him. I would like to thank you for your praise of government anti-crisis measures. Not that this is a mutual admiration society - I must acknowledge that the KAMAZ management achieved a great deal in recent years to develop the company and, lately, to recover from the crisis.

You have probably seen me inspecting the final construction stage of the Chita-Khabarovsk motorway and talking to long-distance lorry drivers. I did my best to advertise your lorries but not with a great deal of success.

Drivers know their business inside out. Many of them spend their whole lives on the road. They have concerns about the engines. I want to ask you in this connection how is your collaboration going with foreign partners, including our American colleagues? You have told me about your first steps toward building a new engine, and have shown it to me. This was the first point.

Second. They invited me inside their lorry, and I got in. I literally walked in -the cab of this jumbo lorry is high enough to stand upright. It has a wardrobe, two comfortable berths and a fridge. The drivers told me that this vehicle was made with people in mind.

It is easy to see why such lorries were designed in the United States: they have strong trade unions that monitor working conditions in the industry, and lorries account for a great part of shipments. They made their demands for decades on end, and satisfactory standards were gradually introduced.

You have shown me your cab blueprints. To what an extent will KAMAZ future-oriented endeavours meet the client's standards?

Sergey Kogoghin: We design our vehicles in conformity with the existing European standards. American standards differ from all the others somewhat. We have made a new lorry, you are right. We have done it, first, because our clients don't want to buy anything else and second, because American motorways are designed for lorries longer than twenty metres. They have no length restrictions, while Russian roads do not allow proper turns...

Vladimir Putin: The standards are different.

Sergey Kogoghin: We follow European standards but the cabs we are designing now conform to all UNECE standards.

One can stand upright in the cab of a new haulage lorry. Such cabs have a smooth floor and two comfortable berths. They can't really be compared to American cabs because we cannot achieve their level of comfort on an 18 sq m space. If cabs are larger, the caravan will have to be shorter and that will raise the price for every kilo of freight. But we certainly take drivers' comfort into account.

Vladimir Putin: You see, it is not a question of standards but of consumers' expectations. That's what we should proceed from. If you say that your lorries meet all the latest standards, the consumer - a lorry driver, in this case - will reply: "This standard might conform to some demands or others but I want something different," and buy a second-hand American lorry. The market is the market, and consumers seek what they want and do not care for standards that exist on paper.

Sergey Kogoghin: You are absolutely right.

Vladimir Putin: We could approach this problem by introducing bans and limitations but that would not be the right kind of regulation. I promised the drivers to tell you about this, and now I am telling you in public.

Sergey Kogoghin: As for the engine plant, you asked about our cooperation with our partners. The plant has been making 500 engines a month, and we intend to produce 12,000 next year, which is the estimated output for the first stage. There is nothing to stop us from doing this. We will produce 25,000 engines in 2012. The plant is operating.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.