The project for the assembly and production of Russian LADA cars in Ethiopia is still under development, Russian Ambassador to Addis Ababa, Evgeny Terekhin, said in an interview to Sputnik.
The diplomat noted that Russian LADA cars have proven themselves to be reliable vehicles in Ethiopia. For this reason, the Ethiopian market is promising for domestic car assembly. And there are enough companies in the country with the necessary experience in cooperation with foreigners, Terekhin added.
“Last December, LADA Export company agreed with one of such companies, the state holding Ethio-Engineering Group, to study the economic and technical possibilities of organizing such an assembly. Based on the results of the study, a decision will be made to implement the corresponding project,” Terekhin said.
In September of last year, the Russian automaker AvtoVAZ signed a contract for the production of LADA cars in Ethiopia.
Three months later, AvtoVAZ and Ethio-Engineering Group signed an agreement, which stipulated that the Ethiopian company will be engaged in serial assembly of LADA cars based on vehicle kits supplied from Russia.
Ethiopia saw this development as a "positive step" towards strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the transportation sector, Belete Molla, Ethiopia's Minister of Innovation and Technology, told Sputnik Africa last December, adding that "local production of LADA cars could lead to better availability and affordability of spare parts, enhancing after-sales service and consumer confidence."