Stadler has confirmed its position regarding Belarus Swiss rail manufacturer Stadler has confirmed to Railway Technology it has significantly reduced the work at its Belarus plant but it has not exited the country – as rumours circulating the industry had suggested.  said it has ceased any and all manufacturing for Belarussian and Russian clients the Fanipol facility outside Minsk is still providing services to Belarus regarding previous contracts.  Stadler provided 10 FLIRT trains to Belarus as part of a deal finalised in 2019 – before the invasion of Ukraine and the implementation of sanctions on Russia and Belarus.  the factory in Belarus continues to provide services that are required in the context of processing the existing rolling stock orders that Stadler has acquired before February 2022,” the company told Railway Technology.  A Stadler spokesperson added that the company “consistently complies will all sanctions issues as a result of the Russian war of aggression” The company condemned the “attack on Ukraine” ordered by the Russian government and confirmed it had no production facility within Russia.  The spokesperson further said: “As a Swiss publicly listed company Stadler consistently complies with all sanctions issued as a result of the Russian war of aggression Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis Stadler has transferred orders from its plant in Belarus to its plants in the European Union and Switzerland and reduced its business in Belarus to the necessary minimum.” Russia and Belarus are both under international sanction regimes following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces in February 2022 although its troops are not believed to be involved in fighting the Belarus government allowed Russian forces to enter Ukraine via its borders.  Russia was thrust into chaos by rebellion from its “military contractors” the Wagner Group again putting the spotlight on one of Russia’s remaining allies.  The European Union and US sanctions limit all trade with Belarus and name 22 individuals who cannot do any business with EU or US-registered companies Although Switzerland is not an EU Member State Nominations are now open for the prestigious Railway Technology Excellence Awards - one of the industry's most recognised programmes celebrating innovation This is your chance to showcase your achievements Don't miss the opportunity to be honoured among the best - submit your nomination today Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network. Щоб переглянути сайт, увімкніть JavaScript у своєму браузері very few people are not aware of the results of Stadler Minsk employees’ work but also in other countries of the world travel in modern trams All these types of railway transport are manufactured near Minsk Read more in the material of the Union State portal correspondent Share on FacebookShare on VKShare on TwitterThe only producer and exporter of railway vehicles for passenger transportation in Belarus has been operating in the republic for only six years they produced trains that now run in Belarus In an interview with Union State portal correspondent the Director of the enterprise Philippe Brunner shared the plans for 2020 the company expects to increase production facilities by another 25% by 2022 we strive to become the most powerful plant in the Stadler group we run second,” said the Director of the enterprise He added that with the growth of the enterprise the number of employees would also increase Now the company employs 1.4 thousand people and plans to recruit about 200 more All employees are local except for the director and head of the welding workshop The company also plans to supply a second batch of trains for the Minsk Metro “We agreed to supply ten metro trains for the capital: six four-car and four five-car ones we are going to dispatch the rest of the trains,” assured Philippe Brunner Another important Belarusian customer has become the Belarusian Railway it is necessary to produce 10 five-car trains The order is currently at the design stage but physical production is to begin within the next few weeks the plant has developed new trains for Azerbaijan twenty-one six-car double-decker electric trains are to be supplied to Hungary “We have a large order from Norwegian customers It is the fifth order we have received and which we will continue to work on in the current year and in 2021,” said Philippe Brunner there are many orders for the production of components including for other factories where there is no capacity or lack of competencies for the Stadler group enterprises in Germany partly in Poland they manufacture cars and bodies made of aluminum The Director of the company also said that they were opening a separate engineering building in Fanipol this April for designing and manufacturing power converters for light rail vehicles “Soon we are launching a new power converter plant We now have a good volume of orders for them from Germany the Czech Republic,” said Philippe Brunner He also said that now the entire enterprise is loaded up to the end of 2022 All sales and strategic developments that employees are currently working on will be implemented no earlier than in 2023 The Stadler Minsk plant was officially opened on November 20th The company is part of the Swiss company Stadler Rail Group which has been one of the leading European manufacturers of railway rolling stock for over 75 years The Stadler Rail Group also has branches in Austria More photos from Stadler Minsk CJSC can be found here.