SOUTHFIELD, MI – Automotive manufacturer BELGEE, a Chinese Belarusian joint venture, opened a new plant in Belarus this month that will build SUVs for the Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Kazakh market. The plant was opened in cooperation with BASF, with BASF's Coatings division supplying all the paint layers for the vehicles – including electrocoat, primer, basecoat and clearlcoat – as well as plastic parts.

"We are proud that we have BELGEE as a new customer for our comprehensive layer portfolio to further strengthen our position in the Eastern European market," said Monika Pander, BASF Account Manager, New Business Development, Automotive OEM Coatings.

Geely, a leading Chinese car producer, and Belarusian automotive manufacturer BELAZ founded the BELGEE joint venture.

"We were able to show BELGEE the quality of our products and our technological know-how," said Ravil Bayazitov, BASF Local Account Manager, Automotive OEM Coatings, Wostok.

"The successful international collaboration between all the teams from Germany, Russia and China was also a key to success," emphasized Markus Staubermann, BASF Technical Project Manager.

With the opening of the production plant, BELGEE begins production at its Belarusian site, which has a capacity of 60,000 car bodies a year – with the option to expand.