September 3, 2022. The Belarusian tractor manufacturer MTZ intends to start making tractors fitted with engines that burn natural gas, according to MTZ Director General Vitaly Vovk.
MTZ has teamed up with OOO RariTEK based in Naberezhnyye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russian Federation to design a gas engine for various vehicles and machines. “I think we will begin making small batches of tractors with such engines soon,” the executive said. Work is now in progress at premises of OOO TPK MTZ-Tatarstan to make a prototype model MTZ 2022. Gas-powered vehicles are in active development in Belarus now. In particular, the Belarusian agricultural machinery manufacturer Gomselmash has made harvesters powered by pure natural gas.
According to Vitaly Vovk, natural gas is twice as cheap as diesel fuel now. The initial cost of a gas-powered tractor will be slightly higher. However, you have to think about the totally different cost of ownership, he said. “It is profitable and we should work towards it,” Vovk remarked.
