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Bridgestone suspends operation of its plant in Russia from March 18 — company

Bridgestone launched the plant in Ulyanovsk in May 2017

TOKYO, March 14. /TASS/. One of the world's largest tire manufacturers Bridgestone decided to suspend the operation of its car tire plant in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk due to the situation around Ukraine and Russia’s military operation there, the Japanese company announced on Monday.

According to the company’s statement, the plant will stop working on March 18. New investments in Russia will also be frozen.

Bridgestone has also stopped exporting tires to Russia as of today.

The company will send 2.5 million euros of assistance to the Ukrainian side through the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the statement says.

On Monday, governor of the Ulyanovsk region Alexei Russkikh wrote in his official telegram channel that Bridgestone will continue to pay salaries to employees of the plant, and intends to increase payments from April.

"About a thousand residents of the Ulyanovsk region work at the plant. Bridgestone will continue to support the staff: the company will pay wages to people, and it is planned to increase it from April," he wrote.

Russkikh noted that the authorities of the region are in touch with the management of the plant.

"The main task in the current conditions is to take care of the team," he stressed.

Bridgestone launched the plant in Ulyanovsk in May 2017. This is the company’s first plant in in Russia and the CIS. More than 12.5 billion rubles ($109 mln) were invested in the project. Earlier it was reported that the plant is capable of producing about 2 million tires per year, and if there are more orders, an increase in production is possible.

Founded in 1931 in Japan, Bridgestone is global leader in production of car tires. It owns 155 factories and 4 technical centers in 27 countries. Tires are tested at 9 own test sites, which were built specifically for this purpose in 7 countries.