Belarus-based MTZ is most serious candidate for strategic partner of IMT – negotiations commenced in Serbia to be resumed in Minsk at end of March

After two unsuccessful tenders, former tractor production giant – New Belgrade’s IMT – should get the new owner by the model of joint investment.

The most serious candidate for strategic partner is Belarus-based MTZ, but people in IMT claim that there are other interested companies as well. The Director General of IMT, Slobodan Petrović, says that that idea was first time presented during the stay of the President of Belarus, Aleksandar Lukašenko, in Serbia, when he met with the Prime Minister of Serbia, Mirko Cvetković, and Deputy Prime Minister Mlađan Dinkić.

- It was decided on that occasion that the talks should be resumed, and what is going to be the result of them – we will see – he added.

The negotiations should be resumed in Minsk on March 30th and 31st when the delegations of the two countries should sign the Agreement on free trade.

People in IMT claim that the company from Belarus is not the only company that is interested in the factory that used to produce 40,000 tractors a year, while the number of produced tractors in the last few years hardly reached 1,000.

- One of the companies that visited IMT on two occasions is Chinese company "Yuto", which used to produce tanks and track-laying tractors, and then moved to production of tractors with wheels. This company produces 160,000 tractors a year. We have also heard relatively recently from Indian company "Sonalika" – said Petrović.