On 19 February 2015, a Memorandum of Understanding between Czech company TATRA TRUCKS and Indian state enterprise BEML was signed in Bangalore, India. Both parties committed to cooperate in the field of deliveries of spare parts and components for TATRA vehicles in service with Indian armed forces.
"The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding has been witnessed by Czech Minister of Defence, Mr. Martin Stropnicky. It is not a business contract, but a politically significant declaration.
"As for the contracts, they are the subject of further negotiations, the talks are tough, but fair. In any case, our Indian partners are interested in original spare parts from Koprivnice as well as chassis construction sets, which will be assembled here in India and then complemented by appropriate extensions as needed," says Petr Rusek, TATRA TRUCKS’ chairman of the board, who has led the negotiations for more than two years.
"I do not want to speculate about when we will receive first contracts from India, but I truly believe that they will follow soon enough after this two-year-long journey.
"I have to commend the cooperation of Czech politicians, Ministers Zaoralek, Stropnicky and Mr. Ambassador Stasek, because this is how the support of national industry should look like. We wanted them to stand up for TATRA because the factory’s reputation here in India was damaged by prosecution of the former shareholder, an Indian businessman," he adds.
TATRA TRUCKS is being presented as a traditional Czech producer and supplier of all-wheel-drive, heavy-duty, high-mobility trucks.
BEML Limited is an Indian state enterprise controlled by Indian Ministry of Defence.
It is a leading Indian organisation in the field of design, development, production and sales of mining, construction, railway and military vehicles.
The memorandum includes the commitment of both parties to cooperate in the field of deliveries of spare parts and components for TATRA military vehicles in service with Indian armed forces.
The memorandum has been signed with the Czech Minister of Defence, Mr Martin Stropnicky, in attendance. Other politicians also contributed to this success, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lubomir Zaoralek, President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman and Czech ambassador to India Miloslav Stasek.
At present, talks are underway about specific business contracts that should be carried out until the end of this year.
TATRA TRUCKS sells its military vehicles through TATRA EXPORT, licensed for dealing with military material. TATRA EXPORT is being presented at IDEX 2015, Abu Dhabi, 22 – 26 February, at stand CP-420.