Russia To Give Ghana Buses

Moscow, Nov. 16, GNA - The GAZ Group, the largest supplier of school buses in the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Ghana have signed a memorandum of cooperation to supply school buses to ease transportation difficulties by students in Ghana.

The memorandum of cooperation also includes the setting up of after sales and warranty servicing of the vehicles in Ghana according to information obtained by Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Moscow.

Mrs Barbara- Asher Ayisi, Ghana's Deputy Minister for Education initialed for her country while

Vadim Sorokin, the President of the GAZ Group signed for his company.

The programme of school bus fleet upgrading is included into the public vehicle fleet upgrade project of the Government of Ghana and the Ministry of Education hopes to implement the first stage of the programme involving the replacement of over 500 school buses in the next five years.

The GAZelle Next Cityline school buses are designed for transportation of 20 children and one accompanying person, while the PAZ school buses are designed for transportation from 22 up to 28 passengers.

The GAZ Group supplies vehicles to over 40 countries all over the world and has local promotion, sales and after sales servicing partners in the five key regions - Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

The GAZ Group export reliable and functional vehicles that are adapted to local climate and operational conditions: light commercial and medium-duty vehicles, trucks, buses and engines.

Mr Sorokin said: 'We have developed a new lineup of reliable and functional NEXT vehicles, on the basis of which we make the entire range of school buses. They allow upgrading the Russian fleet of buses for children transportation and have a large export potential.'

'Nowadays,' he added, 'we have made the first step towards cooperation with the Ministryof Education in Ghana and have to do so much more: open an after sales servicing centre, train staff and study opportunities of setting up an assembly production of GAZ vehicles in Ghana.'

Mrs Asher-Ayisi, explained that 'the Memorandum that we signed with GAZ Group is the first step towards a long-term cooperation between the Ministry and the most successful Russian commercial vehicle manufacturer.'

'We are looking forward to the start of our cooperation to enhance safety of school children. Moreover, we highly appreciate the know-how, which GAZ Group will share with our local vehicle-building industry. Such cooperation will be based on the economic, technological and cultural exchange,' concluded Asher-Ayisi.

The ceremony which took place in Nizhniy Novgorodwas witnessed by Maksim Cherkasov, Minister for Industry, Trade and Entrepreneurship of the Nizhniy Novgorod Region.