This \r\nwas not the last time that trucks of this make arrived in Venezuela, but it was \r\none of the few seen in official deliveries. From 2012 to 2015, the largest \r\nnumber of exports from Russia to Venezuela were made by JSC Foreign Trade Kamaz, \r\nas evidence in the Russian customs records leaked to a consortium of journalists \r\nin Eastern Europe known as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting \r\nProject<\/I> (Occrp), and then delivered to \r\nArmando.info<\/I>.<\/p>\n\n\n \"We stopped receiving these shipments in 2014. In 2015 we only brought spare parts and tires\"<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n In \r\nthat 3-year period, Venezuela received more merchandise from the European \r\ncountry, with Kamaz stamp, than products with military purposes. Two companies \r\nwere the recipients of the material: Suministros Venezolanos Industriales C.A. \r\n(Suvinca) and J.C International 2004, C.A., which is considered the official \r\npartner of the Russian company in Venezuela. Both received, between 2012 and \r\n2015, over 800 shipments.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n \"We \r\nimported chassis of the vehicles that we assembled with the help of Venezuelan \r\nbodywork shops. We stopped receiving these shipments in 2014. In 2015 we only \r\nbrought spare parts and tires. But the government owes us 10 imports that were \r\nmade. Now, imports are held up,\u201d explains Jennifer Camargo by phone, on behalf \r\nof J.C International 2004.<\/p>\n\n According \r\nto Life<\/I> magazine in Russia, the problem with the payment of Venezuelan \r\ncontracts had been discussed at an intergovernmental level. During the first \r\nmonths of 2016, the Russian and Venezuelan delegations held meetings on the \r\npayment of debts owed for the delivery of Kamaz materials. And in December 2016, \r\nduring the negotiations in Caracas, the Venezuelan side announced its \r\nwillingness to settle the debts for an amount of 16 million dollars for \r\nequipment and spare parts supplied. At that time, the government of Nicol\u00e1s \r\nMaduro promised to pay 8 million dollars in February 2017 and expedite payments \r\nfor the rest of the debt.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n The \r\npartner of Kamaz in Venezuela, J.C International 2004, according to the most \r\nrecent information of the National Registry of Contractors has Jaime Cabezas \r\nPe\u00f1aranda and Yaduris G\u00f3mez Sabalza as representatives, who are also part of a \r\ncompany registered in Panama with the name of Camiones Kamaz Latinoam\u00e9rica. They \r\nare also partners of the national company Corpvenca, Venezuelan Meat \r\nCorporation, with whom they share an address in Santa Rosa de Lima area, east of \r\nCaracas. The team of Armando.info <\/I>went to that place but did not find a \r\ntrace of these companies. <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n Kamaz \r\nwas founded in Russia in 1969. The company is a leader in the Russian truck \r\nmarket and ranks eighth in the world in terms of diesel engine production. It \r\nsupplies its products to 43 countries worldwide, including Venezuela. According \r\nto its website, \"The modern KAMAZ equipment works on any road and under any \r\nclimate conditions, in the tropics, desert areas and highlands.\" That is why, \r\nsince a few years ago, they are trying to reorient themselves in export supplies \r\nto Latin American countries and establish assembly companies \r\nthere.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n Since \r\n2007, there have been discussions about the creation of an assembly plant in \r\nVenezuela. In March 2010, representatives of Kamaz and members of the Mayor's \r\nOffice of Valencia met to sign the agreement that would be the starting point of \r\nthe construction of the factory.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n \"As \r\nthe Bolivarian mayor of Valencia, I want to promote the project for the \r\nprosperity of the municipality, in which workers will also participate in the \r\npartnership of that factory, as a socially owned company,\" Edgardo Parra Oquendo \r\nsaid when he was still in charge of the government of the capital of Carabobo. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n Finally, \r\nthe project was not promoted and the engines of these vehicles could not be \r\nstart up. In May 2013, the installation of an assembly plant in the industrial \r\nzone Agust\u00edn Rivero de Independencia, in San Felipe, state of Yaracuy, in the \r\ncenter-north of the country, was again announced in the media. At that time, the \r\nrepresentative of Kamaz in Venezuela, Luis Barrios, explained that the \r\ninvestment of this work would be 2 million dollars and would be executed in two \r\nyears. The plan included the construction of 5,000 meters of warehouses, \r\ninstallation of technology for the three assembly lines, and 390 direct \r\njobs.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n Once \r\nagain the plans were only promises. The only assembly plant that works in this \r\nplace since December 2015, is the Yutong bus company operated by \r\nChina.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n The \r\ninformation handled this year is that the plans of the assembly plant remain but \r\nthe city where it will be installed changed. According to representatives of J.C \r\nInternational 2004, the delays and continuous changes of places have arisen due \r\nto problems to obtain building permits. \"The development project is ready. We \r\nhave the plans and even personnel in the field. The place will be the duty-free \r\nzone of Falcon,\" explains Camargo. <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n Three \r\nyears after the delivery of Russian trucks by Hugo Cabezas, in 2012, in the \r\nstate of Trujillo, the Bolivarian Government of Aragua made an act with the then \r\ngovernor Tareck El Aissami, where 68 Kamaz buses were given to transporters of \r\nthe region.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n These \r\nbuses had a capacity for 32 passengers, equipped with air conditioner for \r\nsuburban routes, and no air for urban routes, with the expectation of \r\nbenefitting more than 20,000 users daily. El Aissami noted, at that time, that \r\ncompany Kamaz had scheduled the start of operations in two dealers with service \r\ncapacity of 10 transport units, in order to ensure a better post-sale \r\nservice.<\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/armando.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/07012018-01.png\")
<\/div><\/div>The Assembly Plant that Never Was<\/h2>\n\n\n
Where are the trucks and buses?<\/h2>\n\n\n