Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) (, ''Open JSC Minski Autamabilny Zavod'', ''Minskij Avtomobilnyj Zavod'') is a state-run automotive manufacturer association in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, one of the largest in Eastern Europe.

History

After a decision by the Soviet Industrial command in August 1944, the plant was begun as the Second World War ended. The first MAZ model, the MAZ-200, entered production in 1949. This truck used General Motors-designed two-stroke engines and was a continuation of a truck developed by the Yaroslavl Motor Plant (YaMZ), who also built the engines. Later on, YaMZ's own original engines were developed and implemented in the MAZ-500 series which was first shown in 1955, but only reaching full series production in 1965. Schauen, p.64 Apartment buildings, shops, medical clinics, cinemas etc. were built in close proximity to the MAZ plant, providing plant workers with local (though limited) necessities. On many of the construction sites, German prisoners of war were working together with Belarusian construction workers. It manufactures heavy-duty

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

es,

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es, road tractors and

semi-trailer A semi-trailer is a trailer (vehicle), trailer without a front axle. The combination of a semi-trailer and a tractor truck is called a ''semi-trailer truck'' (also known simply as a "semi-trailer", "tractor trailer", or "semi" in the United Sta ...

s for

semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called ...

s, and cranes. MAZ was, and possibly is, the world's largest manufacturer of TELs (Transporter-Erector-Launchers) for many of the world's mobile ballistic missiles, from the MAZ-543 used to carry and launch the Scud B through to the Topol M's 8-axle TEL. In 2020, it was said that the MAZ was the primary supplier for the chassis of such Russian army vehicles as the launchers for the Iskander-M and the

S-400 The S-400 Triumf ( – Triumf; translation: Triumph; NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler), previously known as the S-300 PMU-3, is a mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed in the 1990s by Russia's NPO Almaz as an upgrade to the S ...

because the domestic Russian products are of comparatively low quality.

Political repressions, sanctions

On 21 June 2021, MAZ (as well as its general manager Ivankovich) was added to the sanctions list of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

for repressions against workers who participated in mass protests against the authoritarian regime of

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

following the controversial presidential election of 2020. According to the official decision of the EU,

" AZis a source of revenue for the Lukashenka regime. OJSC MAZ has offered its premises and equipment to stage a political rally in support of the regime. Therefore, OJSC “MAZ” benefits from and supports the Lukashenka regime."COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2021/997
-
Official Journal of the European Union The ''Official Journal of the European Union'' (the ''OJEU'') is the official gazette of record for the European Union (EU). It is published every working day in all of the official languages of the member states of the EU. Only legal acts p ...
, 21.06.2021

Moreover,

Employees of OJSC “MAZ” who took part in strikes and peaceful protests in the aftermath of fraudulent August 2020 elections in Belarus, were intimidated and later laid off by the company’s managements. A group of employees was locked indoors by OJSC MAZ to prevent them from joining the other protesters. Therefore, MAZ is responsible for the repression of civil society and supports the Lukashenka regime.

On the same day, MAZ and Ivankovich were also sanctioned by Canada. Later, Switzerland also sanctioned the company and its general manager. In March 2023, the

U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

included MAZ and Ivankovich in the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. In May 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions against the plant, followed by the U.S. sanctions on exports in 2024.

Organization

The association consists of the MAZ plant proper, located in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, which is the main enterprise of the association, as well as several secondary enterprises: * РУП «БААЗ» (in Baranavichy) * РУП «ОЗАА» (in Asipovichy) * РУА «КЗТШ» (in Zhodino) * РУП «Літмаш» (in Minsk), * ПРУП «ДЭМЗ» (in Dzyarzhynsk) * РУП «СтройМАЗтрест» (in Minsk) At some points of its history, MAZ was "united" with another heavy automobile company -

BELAZ BelAZ (, ) is a Belarus, Belarusian automobile plant and one of the world's largest manufacturers of large and especially large dump trucks, as well as other heavy transport equipment for the mining and construction industries. ''BelAZ'' is a ...

also located in Minsk area. In 1991, a division specialising in heavy wheeled military vehicles was spun off into a separate business, MZKT. MAZ is 100% state-owned company.

Products

Among other products, MAZ city buses (see pictures below) are operating throughout Belarus, as well as in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. In

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, working in cooperation with a local-based company BIK (Bus industries Kragujevac), a production of gas-powered buses named BIK-203 has been agreed, which are based on the platform of MAZ-203 model.

MAZ-MAN

In 1997, together with

MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

, a joint Belarusian-German company JSC MAZ-MAN, was set up, which by 1998 had established full-scale production of heavy vehicles, using the F90 MAN cabs introduced 1986 and replaced in 1994. While production of tractors for international trade with 4x2 and 6x4 chassis layouts was a stated goal, development of exhaust gas regulations within the EU turned this into a illusion.

Models

Cars

* MAZ-1500 (1959, MAZ's only car)

Trucks

* MAZ-200 (1950, formerly built by YaAZ from 1947 to 1950) * МАZ-200V (1952, tractor-trailer version of MAZ-200) * МАZ-205 (1950, dump truck version of MAZ-200) * МАZ-500/MAZ-500A (1965) * MAZ-501 (1955, logging truck version of MAZ-200) * МАZ-501V (tractor-trailer version of MAZ-501) * МАZ-502 (1957, 4x4 version of MAZ-200) * МАZ-502V (tractor-trailer version of MAZ-502) * МАZ-503/MAZ-503A (1958, dump truck version of MAZ-500) * MAZ-504/MAZ-504A (1965, tractor-trailer version of MAZ-500) * МАZ-505 (1962, prototype 4x4 truck based on MAZ-500) * MAZ-506 (1954, prototype dump truck based on MAZ-205) * МАZ-509 (1969, logging truck version of MAZ-500) * MAZ-510 (1965, prototype dump truck based on MAZ-503) * МАZ-511 (dump truck version of MAZ-500) * MAZ-512/MAZ-500C (cold weather version of MAZ-500) * MAZ-513/MAZ-500YU (hot weather version of MAZ-500) * MAZ-514 (1965, prototype three-axle truck based on MAZ-500) * МАZ-515 (1965, prototype tractor-trailer version of MAZ-514) * МАZ-516 (1969) * MAZ-520 (1972, prototype truck based on MAZ-504) * MAZ-525 (1951, later built by

BelAZ BelAZ (, ) is a Belarus, Belarusian automobile plant and one of the world's largest manufacturers of large and especially large dump trucks, as well as other heavy transport equipment for the mining and construction industries. ''BelAZ'' is a ...

) * MAZ-528 (1955, prototype wheeled dozer) * MAZ-529 (1955, production moved to MoAZ in 1958) * MAZ-530 (1957, later built by

) * MAZ-532 (1957, prototype logging truck) * MAZ-535 (1958; production moved to KZKT in 1961) * MAZ-537 (1959; production moved to KZKT in 1963) * MAZ-538 (1964, wheeled dozer) * MAZ-541 (1956, aircraft tug based on MAZ-525) * МАZ-543/МАZ-7310 (1962) * MAZ-547/MAZ-7916 (1972) * MAZ-2000 (1988, prototype truck) * MAZ-3650 (2019) * МАZ-4370 (1999) * МАZ-4371 (2003) * МАZ-4380 (2010) * МАZ-4471 (2006) * МАZ-4570 (2002) * МАZ-5309 (2008) * MAZ-5316 (1999, two-axle version of MAZ-6317) * MAZ-5334 (1977, cab-chassis version of MAZ-5335) * MAZ-5335 (1977) * МАZ-5336 (1978) * МАZ-5337 (1978) * МАZ-5340 (2002) * MAZ-5428 (1977) * MAZ-5429 (1978) * MAZ-5430 (1977) * МАZ-5432 (1981) * МАZ-5433 (1987) * МАZ-5434 (1990) * МАZ-5440 (1997) * МАZ-5442 * МАZ-5516 (1988) * MAZ-5549 (1978) * MAZ-5550 (2006) * МАZ-5551 (1985) * МАZ-6303 (1990s) * МАZ-6310 (2007) * МАZ-6312 (2007) * МАZ-6317 (1991) * МАZ-6417 * MAZ-6418 * МАZ-6422 (1978) * МАZ-6425 (tractor-trailer version of MAZ-6317) * МАZ-6430 (1997) * MAZ-6440 (2011, prototype) * МАZ-6501 (2008) * MAZ-6502 (2015) * МАZ-6516 * МАZ-6517 (1994) * МАZ-7410 (based on MAZ-543) * МАZ-7906 (1984, prototype) * MAZ-7907 (1985) * МАZ-7910 (based on MAZ-543) * MAZ-7922 (1990, prototype) * MAZ-79221 (1996, later built by MZKT) File:MAZ-203 and MAZ-206.JPG, MAZ-203 and MAZ-206 buses File:Maz truck mims 2006.JPG, MAZ-447131 File:MAZ-MAN truck.JPG, Tipper, with the

F90 cab

Buses

* MAZ-101 (1993, based on Neoplan N4016) * MAZ-103 Omnibus (1996, based on MAZ-101) * MAZ-103T

Trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

(1999) * MAZ-104 (1997, based on MAZ-103) * MAZ-105 articulated (1997, based on MAZ-103) * MAZ-107 three axle (2001, based on MAZ-103) * MAZ-152 city bus (1999) * MAZ-163 * MAZ-171

Airport bus An airport bus, or airport shuttle bus, alternatively simply airport shuttle or shuttle bus is a bus designed for transport of passengers to and from, or within airports. These vehicles will usually be equipped with larger luggage space, and i ...

(2005) * MAZ-203 Omnibus (2006) * MAZ-203T Trolleybus (2006) * MAZ-205 (2009) * MAZ-206 Omnibus (2006) * MAZ-207 * MAZ-215 (2014) * MAZ-216 (2018) * MAZ-226 (2007) * MAZ-231 * MAZ-241 * MAZ-251 Tourist (2006) * MAZ-256 Omnibus (2006) * MAZ-257 (2019) * MAZ-271 (2020) * MAZ-281 (2019) * MAZ-303 (2019)

Special models

* MAZ-535/ MAZ-537 - The MAZ-535 and the heavier version MAZ-537 were developed in the early 1960s and built to transport rockets and tanks of various types. * MAZ-543/MAZ-7310 - The MAZ-543 was also designed for the transport of medium-and long-range missiles and has the same specifications as the MAZ-537. The MAZ-543 is best known as mobile missile launch pad of

Scud missile A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the m ...

s. In 1976, the MAZ-7310 was released. It is similar to the MAZ-543 but without the special equipment. In addition, there are various modifications of the vehicle, such as the MAZ-547 as a mobile launch pad for SS-20 missiles or the MAZ-7917 as a launch pad of Topol intercontinental missile. * MAZ-547/MAZ-7916 - The MAZ-547 is a six-axle version of the MAZ-543 and was used for the RSD-10 Pioneer IRBM. The MAZ-7916, an improved version, was released in 1980. * MAZ-7904 - The MAZ-7904 is the largest wheeled vehicle that was ever designed for military purposes in the USSR. The prototype was designed in 1982 as a support vehicle for

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

s, but never went into production. The vehicle was found in 2007 in a hangar at

Baikonur Baikonur ( ; ) is a city in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered by the Russian Federation as an enclave until 2050. It was constructed to serve the Baikonur Cosmodrome with adminis ...

, but was scrapped in 2010 due to severe corrosion. * MAZ-7906/ MAZ-7907 - The MAZ-7906 was an eight-axle, 16 wheel

Transporter-erector-launcher A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can transport, elevate to a firing position and launch one or more Rocket artillery, rockets or missiles. History Such vehicles exist for both surfac ...

intended to transport the Tselina-2 missile, a projected road-mobile variant of the RT-23 Molodets. In 1985, the 12-axle MAZ-7907 was developed, also intended for the Tselina-2. Two prototypes were produced, but despite successful factory trials, no production followed. At least one seems to have been used after the collapse of the USSR for transportation of bridge parts and ships. One unit is stored at the Minsk Wheel Tractor plant awaiting restoration. * МАZ-7912/MAZ-7917 - The MAZ-7912 is a seven-axle, 14 wheel TEL for the Topol missile. In 1984, the MAZ-7917 was released, lengthened and had crew cabins similar to the MAZ-7916. File:Galosh anti-ballistic missile launcher.JPEG, MAZ-537 File:SS-1C Scud B missiles on TEL.JPEG, MAZ-543 File:Moscow Parad 2008 Ballist.jpg, MAZ-7917

Generations

Sponsorship in football

* 1999–2002: Torpedo-MAZ Minsk

Gallery

Buses

File:Bus MAZ-105.jpg, MAZ-105 bus File:Constanta MAZ yellow bus.jpg, MAZ-103 city bus (yellow) in

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

File:Constanta pink bus.jpg, MAZ-103 city bus (pink) in

File:MAZ.Iasi-Romania.JPG, MAZ-103 city bus in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

File:МАЗ-103 Казань.jpg, Restyled MAZ-103 bus in

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

File:MAZ 103 CNG.jpg, MAZ-103 CNG File:MAZ-103t in Minsk.JPG, MAZ-103T trolleybus in Minsk File:MAZ 107 Constanta.jpg, MAZ-107 city bus in

File:MAZ-203 and MAZ-206.JPG, MAZ-203 and MAZ-206 buses File:MAZ-251-Reisebus in München.JPG, MAZ-251 coach in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

File:MAZ 206 in route 107 at Hanoi.jpg, MAZ-206 at Kim Mã Terminal,

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

File:Galati MAZ trolleybus 1403.jpg, MAZ-203T trolleybus in

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

File:MAZ-215 Marshala Rokossovskoho avenue Kyiv 20190705.jpg, MAZ-215 articulated bus in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

File:MAZ-303.jpg, MAZ-303 bus

Trucks

File:MAZ truck 2.JPG, MAZ-5551 File:9P117 9K72.jpg, 9K72 Elbrus launcher (9P117) File:MAZ-543 airport tender.jpg, MAZ-543 airport tender, airport in

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

File:Fire truck ATs 5,0-50-4 on MAZ-5336A3.jpg, Fire truck ATs 5,0-50-4 on MAZ-5337A2 -01 File:Fire service Baranavichy, Belarus.jpg, MAZ-5337 Firetruck in Baranavichy, Belarus File:МАЗ-6440.jpg, MAZ-6440 conventional cab tractor unit File:MAZ-478800 (MAZ-4571N2-540-010 with Kupava-470011).jpg, MAZ-4571 box truck File:MAZ-6501C9 long-haul truck with MAZ-856100 trailer (01).jpg, MAZ-6501 flatbed truck with trailer File:BAMAP-2019 exhibition (Minsk, Belarus) — Выставка БАМАП-2019 (Минск, Беларусь) 00007.jpg, MAZ-5440 semi-trailer truck File:Concrete mixer on MAZ chassis (01).jpg, MAZ-6516 concrete mixer truck File:Armenian-Iranian border, Nurduz 01 (cropped).jpg, MAZ-6430 tractor unit towing a tank trailer at the border between

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

File:Milk tanker ACIP-12I with milk tanker-trailer on MAZ chassis (01).jpg, MAZ-6312 milk tank truck File:MAZ dump truck 2.jpg, MAZ-6516 dump truck (orange) File:MAZ vehicle, Minsk (March 2020) p015.jpg, MAZ-6312 logging truck in Minsk

Notes

References

* Peter J. Davies: Trucks of the World - The encyclopedia of makes and models from 2002. Motor Book, Stuttgart. .

External links

Official site

Official Maz-Man website

MAZ - russian history
{{Coord, 53, 51, 44, N, 27, 39, 15, E, region:BY_type:landmark, display=title Truck manufacturers of the Soviet Union Bus manufacturers of Belarus Trolleybus manufacturers Truck manufacturers of Belarus Defence companies of the Soviet Union Bus manufacturers of the Soviet Union Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1944 1944 establishments in Belarus 1944 establishments in the Soviet Union Economy of Minsk Companies based in Minsk Belarusian brands Soviet brands Electric vehicle manufacturers of Belarus Belarusian entities subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions