In 2015, the car brand ToyotaFortuner, which is assembled at the Kostanay enterprise "SaryarkaAvtoProm", was recognized as the best product for the population at the regional stage of the competition-exhibition "The Best Product of Kazakhstan".

This year, the company has submitted again an application to participate in it and, in addition, will fight for the prize of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Altyn Sapa". We are talking with the chairman of the Board of JSC "Agromash" Oleg Tsoi about the plans and expectations.

- Oleg Viktorovich, in your opinion, what is the success of last year's victory of Kostanay automotive company at the prestigious competition?

- As is known, Toyota is very popular all over the world. Our country - is no exception. And the fact that our factory is honored to be the first Toyota production site in Central Asia and the second in the CIS countries, for us is a pride. We have proved to the Japanese partner that we can make cars and to develop Kazakhstani car industry. Toyota saw in us a partner, which enabled this project. The biggest global corporation was convinced that Kazakhstan is ready to full production, including welding and painting of bodies, it is able to adopt to new innovations and train specialists. I must say, a lot of events are related to this brand of a car. The first significant event was the launch of the project, thanks to the personal involvement of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Next - a victory in the regional competition-exhibition "Best Product of Kazakhstan". This competition has shown how important and significant is this project for Kostanay.

- Today a lot of talk about the absence of demand for domestic cars. How critical is the situation in your company?

- We had difficulties, like all members of the Kazakhstani market. However, our goals remain the same. We continue to produce quality products, to increase the localization and product range, to develop new market horizons and to attract new partners. Difficulties in the automotive industry became a motivating factor to continue the development. Our commitment to maintain qualified personnel, experts with unique experience and trained by foreign masters in engineering remains unchanged. At any time, whether it's time of crisis or "calm", our factory aims to nurture and to grow talented, capable professionals, because one of the most important areas of work is the operation of the Centre for training and development of personnel in our company. As part of the training Kostanay experts were able to visit the Italian factory IVECO, SsangYong Motor Co in South Korea, UAZ in Russia (Ulyanovsk), PSA Peugeot Citroën Plant (Kaluga, Russia), Hyundai in the Czech Republic and many other sites of the world automakers. Moreover, the production facilities of JSC "Agromash" and LLP "SaryarkaAvtoProm", included in the “AllurGroup”, are participants of the educational program "Innovative production and automation of industrial machinery" within the state program of industrial-innovative development of Kazakhstan. As part of this project, the training of specialists in the profile master's path of learning "Automotive Engineering". Last year, the number of graduated was supplemented with 20 employees auto-production platforms, and now they continue their education. Recently they passed internships in the Russian automotive company "AvtoVAZ" in Togliatti, they returned with new knowledge and are ready to apply the acquired skills. In short, we do not stand still, we develop.

- Why did you decide to participate again in competitions?

- The victory in such competitions – is a serious indicator of the enterprise, the quality and availability of products, this is a great consumer confidence. And the award, established by the President of our country, imposes a special responsibility on the company. And, of course, participation in a competition of this magnitude – is a great chance to remind of the production, to express themselves, to enhance greatly the company's image. This year we are going to be nominated for the Prize of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Altyn Sapa" with a combine harvester “Essil GLC-760”. There is something to show. The harvester is equipped with air conditioning, on-board computer, the cutoff "Schumacher" system and centralized lubrication system, which has no analogues in Kazakhstan. At the competition "The Best Product of Kazakhstan" we will present the car Jac S3, the production of which we mastered the last year. This car is in demand at the domestic market and is a worthy embodiment of high quality and affordable price.

- Does the plant plan the release of new car brands?

- The main landmark - the demand for cars. We hold large market research, talks with potential partners to attract brands to the market. Moreover, we intend to learn CKD production for already produced models. For example, this year we began with the reconstruction of the old workshops for the installation of equipment for the production of high-grade cars Peugeot 301, Jac S3 and Iveco Daily, the launch of which is planned in the foreseeable future. In the field of agricultural engineering development, we also built mechanisms that will allow agrarians to evaluate a wide range of Belarusian agricultural equipment. We are working to establish a joint production with our strategic partner company "Gomselmash". This means that the expansion of production is foreseen in the long term. At the same time, the company continues to increase the list of manufacturers of accessories, ready for mutually beneficial cooperation in the creation of domestic vehicles.

- Thank you and good luck in the upcoming competitions.