KAMAZ will launch its R&D base in Hungary this year, with a staff of 65 engineers, the Innovation and Technology Ministry said. The number of engineers at the base will double to 130 by 2024, it added.

The Russian company could start production in Hungary as earlier as 2025, turning out 32,000 EVs a year. By 2030, output at the local base could approach 10 times that number.

Hungary and KAMAZ could set up a joint venture to implement the plans, the ministry said.

The MoU was signed by Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics and Igor Povarazdnyuk, who heads KAMA JSC, a company KAMAZ has launched to make EVs.