Ganja Auto Plant

About Ganja Auto Plant

Ganja Auto Plant (Azerbaijani: Gəncə Avtomobil Zavodu) is an auto assembly plant based in Ganja, Azerbaijan. The factory was founded in 1986 as KiAZ (Kirovabad Automobile Plant) for a production of run of 30,000 "GAZelle" vans according to the project brief. The commissioning was intended to end in 1989, but following a decision of Council of Ministers of the former USSR, the construction of the factory was interrupted, and the technological project was given to the Bryansk Automobile Plant. The 256 hectares (633 acres) of overall territory, including the 50 hectares (120 acres) of the factory footprint itself, stayed without utilization for 15 years. Construction of an automobile plant was considered by the government after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union when Azerbaijan had obtained its independence. Since 1994, the giant and famous automobile companies of Italy, Korea, Japan, France and Germany showed interest in the facility, but negotiations held with them ended without a deal. In December 2004, the Ganja automobile plant started manufacturing cars, and the first car built at the factory was sold.