Geely to Create Joint Venture in Belarus

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. has signed an agreement with the government of Belarus to form a joint venture that would produce cars and SUVs for the local market as well as Russia and the Ukraine.

The Chinese company is partnering with two state-owned Belarusian companies: mining equipment maker BelAZ and supplier SOYUZ.

Geely says the venture will have initial annual capacity of 120,000 passenger vehicles. The company didn't say when production would begin.

Geely is already the top-selling Chinese brand in Russia, where its volume soared 87% year on year to 11,700 passenger and light commercial vehicles in the first half of 2013. The overall auto market contracted 6% to 1.33 million units in that period, according to the Moscow-based Assn. of European Businesses.