Press-centre

14 september 2023

The large-scale competition was attended by 32 dump trucks operators of mining companies fr om countries near and far abroad. On 12 September, at the opening ceremony BELAZ General Director Sergei Nikiforovich welcomed the participants:

- Best of the best - the most experienced operators of BELAZ dump trucks from the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, Iran and the Republic of Belarus gathered on the hospitable Belarusian land, in the place wh ere the legendary BELAZ trucks are built. This championship unites all of us into one big BELAZ family. I’m sure that the competition will allow you to gain not only new acquaintances and improve your professional skills, but will also further strengthen relations between our companies and countries.

The head of BELAZ presented the participants with personalized cards of the "Operators' Club" members and wished everyone a successful performance.

During the competition, the operators were theoretically tested. During the 15 minutes allotted by the rules, they answered 15 test questions on knowledge of the design and effective operation of a dump truck, as well as safety rules.

The most spectacular stage of the championship was practical tasks: the operators overcame 1.5 kilometer route around the training ground, demonstrating masterful driving skills behind the wheel of our top model of dump truck – 130-tons BELAZ-7513D.

Driving a multi-ton machine is a real art, and for a high result in the race, the career driving ace had to show a real BELAZ-class! The tasks were not simple: tight turns, uphill climb, "figure eight", diagonal parking in reverse, overall corridor. It took a lot of efforts to pass all the exercises with filigree precision, without hitting the restrictive posts and keeping within the minimum time of the distance. At the end of the course the participants had a special task – to burst a balloon with a "spade" fixed on the bonnet of a dump truck. The judges closely followed this, strictly counting the points of each participant.

As a result, the Champion cup of the "BELAZ Operators' Club 2023" was won by Dmitry Berestovsky, JSC Stroyservice.

- Just so happy I got the win! It’s nice to win such competitions. I was not the fastest in terms of time, but the fact that I made few mistakes played in my favour. I was able to run the course carefully, which is why I won. I’ll take the certificate for the first place home, and I’ll leave the Cup at my native company, – said Dmitry Berestovsky at the awarding ceremony

Dmitry Zaitsev, LLC ELSI Mining Siberia, won the silver medal. Ruslan Imukhazharov, JSC HC Yakutugol, won the bronze medal.

The professional skills championship at BELAZ was interesting and eventful: spectacular competitions, business meetings, exchange of experience, an expert session on the practice of quarry equipment operation, excursions and a colourful award ceremony with diplomas, valuable prizes and gifts fr om BELAZ and partner companies.

The BELAZ Operators' Club 2023 is an international professional community that gives its members an opportunity to gain new experience and develop in their profession, as well as promotes the expansion of co-operation with mining companies from different regions of the world wh ere BELAZ quarry equipment operates.