The Czech automotive concern Skoda won a contact to supply the Moldovan capital Chisinau with trolley buses. A Moldovan assembly line using Czech parts, to be set up in Chisinau, will initially assemble 50 vehicles with a total value of between 8 and 12 million dollars, said Vasyl Rudy, a Chisinau city spokesman. The city of Chisinau owns 340 Soviet-era trolley buses, of which only 270 are generally operational. Replacement Skoda trolley buses would in in the second phase of the programme be purchased by the Chisinau city government an as-you-can-afford basis, Rudy said. Skoda won the contract by offering the Moldovan capital financing to set up the plant, and for the delivery of the initial batch of vehicles, he said. Serial production is scheduled to begin by June 2007. Once the assembly line is up and running the Moldovan plant will manufacture a minimum of 40 trolley buses a year selling at approximately 170,000 dollars each - a price competitive with models from Russia, Ukraine or Belarus, claimed Stanislav Koutsky, a Skoda spokesman. 'This is primarily because of cheap labour,' Koutsky said. Moldova is generally rated the poorest country in Europe. Once fully operational the manufacturing centre will export vehicles to neighbouring countries, said Viacheslav Dzhordan, a Chisinau city official. Chisinau will nevertheless continue to purchase additional trolley buses from Ukraine and another Moldovan manufacturer, he said.
Sourse: DPA
