OREANDA-NEWS. A cooperation agreement signed by Kirovsky Zavod and the Saratov region government will ensure construction of a machine-building enterprise Kirov-Stankomash - Saratov and production of Kirovets tractors.

It is planned that a new facility of the St. Petersburg Tractor Plant, a subsidiary of Kirovsky Zavod, will start production in April this year and will supply the first 12 Kirovets tractors by May. Initially the Saratov-based plant will assemble machine sets delivered from Saint Petersburg and will localize its production at 20 percent by the end of 2013. However, starting next year the plant will assemble tractors using locally-manufactured components and parts. According to the agreement, it will take three years to complete the entire project.

According to the signed agreement, the second enterprise "Kirov-Stankomash - Saratov" is to specialize on the production, overhaul maintenance and modernization of the machines for manufacturing and inspection of conic and hypoid reluctor rings as well as other machine-tool equipment. Kirovsky Zavod plans to invest more than USD 7 million in the new machine-building enterprise.

Further, Kirov-Stankomash - Saratov will also be involved in production of the Kirovets tractors and will manufacture a set of machine tools. In the future Kirovsky Zavod plans to transfer the complete production of bevel wheels as well as central, internal and pinion gears for all tractors to the Saratov region. It is projected that the annual gear production in the Saratov region will exceed USD 3.5 million.

CEO of Kirovsky Zavod Georgy Semenenko and the Saratov region Governor Valery Radaev accentuated that the planned cooperation that will not only increase the investment attractiveness of the Saratov region but will also help in solving a number of social and economic issues. Currently 90 percent of about 1,700 Kirovets tractors of K-700A, K-701 and K-744R type operating in the fields of the Saratov region are more than 20 years old. The start of the tractor production will help modernize at least ten percent of the machinery. In addition, new enterprises and the service infrastructure for tractors will create several hundreds of jobs in that region.