Ukrainian Auto Industry Drastically Scaling Back in December

According to the Ukrainian news agency ‘RBK-Ukraine’, in the coming weeks almost every vehicle manufacturing plant in the Ukraine will close down. The vice-president of “UkrAutoprom” (Association of the Ukrainian motor vehicle manufacturers) Jukhim Khazan has stated that in mid-December 2008 production will halt at most automotive factories in the region. “Nearly all the facilities will stop production,” he said. “Neither AutoKraZ Holding’s nor ZAZ (Zaporizhia Automobile Building Plant) facilities will remain manufacturing. Boryspil Autoplant has already suspended production. These plants will be followed by assembly enterprises.”

Meanwhile one of the largest auto manufacturers in Ukraine, Bogdan Corporation, has changed to a one-shift production schedule. The president of the Corporation, Oleh Svinarchuck, told media that the move from three-shift to one-shift production will preserve jobs. However, he adds, the government’s inactivity in averting the crisis affecting the automotive industry “may eventually lead to considerable redundancies.

“The prices on domestically produced vehicles will not drop as foreseen – due to hryvnya’s (the Ukranian currency) devaluation,” he added. Svinarchuck also indicated that the rate of vehicle manufacturing profitability in the Ukraine is not more than 8-10 per cent.