Press-centre

9 september 2026

Oruj Veliyev, an experienced operator of mining dump trucks at the Solntsevsky Coal Mine, won the Golden Cup – the top prize of the 5th Anniversary International Championship "BELAZ Operators Club 2026".

This year, 37 top professionals representing leading mining enterprises fr om Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan gathered to compete for the title of the strongest.

– “BELAZ Operators Club is not just an annual competition for the best representatives of the profession. Over the past five years, it has become an authoritative international community of dedicated top professionals. And this is very valuable to us,” Sergei Lesin, General Director of OJSC "BELAZ", emphasized as he presented the participants of the championship with personalized membership cards of the BELAZ Operators Club. The head of the enterprise noted that the project brings together unique specialists capable of masterfully operating mining equipment in any climatic zones on the planet — be it the freezing winters of Kuzbass or the hot quarries of Uzbekistan.

– “This championship is not only a chance to showcase yourself, your skills and experience, but also a great opportunity to strengthen international ties, exchange best practices, and make new acquaintances,” Sergei Lesin concluded.

On the eve of the championship’s start, on September 8, the participants familiarized themselves with the BELAZ museum exhibition, the company’s assembly workshops, the main competition sites, and underwent a mandatory safety briefing.

The competition day, September 9, turned out to be hot for all purposes — both in terms of the weather and in terms of the atmosphere of the intriguing competitions. The factory testing site became the arena of an uncompromising struggle for every second on the track and for a perfectly executed element.

An important part of the success formula at the championship was the traditional theoretical exam. The test questions contained information about the technical design of mining trucks and the rules for their safe operation. Any mistake in the theory cost the operators valuable points, which could cost them the championship title at the finish line.

At the most spectacular stage of the competition — the practical navigation of a 130 ton BELAZ 7513D dump truck along a given route — virtuoso maneuvering on challenging sections of quarry roads, as well as reaction speed and task accuracy, came to the fore.

In the fight for credit points, the operators skillfully "drew" complex shapes on the route, trying to perform the "figure eight", diagonal parking, entering the "garage" and other difficult exercises as carefully as possible.

The most spectacular trick performed by the operators was the reverse-driving task wh ere they had to blow out the balloon using a blade end mounted on the dump truck frame. Here, car operators caught centimeters of distance, relying solely on their own experience, perfect calculation and professional intuition. Those who completed the task were entitled to a good bonus this year – an alternative, high-speed section was opened for them.

As a result, the judges' tally showed that Oruj Veliyev, an experienced operator fr om Sakhalin, managed to score a championship-winning point total (Solntsevsky Coal Mine LLC). The other places on the podium were also won by his compatriots fr om Russia. Alexander Novikov (Kuzbassrazrezugol) was awarded the second place and the title of vice-champion of the BELAZ Operators Club 2026. And two operators, Timofei Rudnev (Apatit JSC) and Dmitri Mikhin (Solntsevsky Coal Mine LLC), shared the third place of the podium.

The award ceremony was held to applause and festive fanfare. BELAZ awarded the winners with honorary diplomas and valuable prizes – products of famous Belarusian brands: the MINSK motorcycle, the ATLANT refrigerator, Vityas TVs, BELAZ scale models of dump trucks and branded products. In addition to the prizes from our enterprise, the participants received gifts from Cooling Systems Plant LLC, the event partner.

Alexey Grachev and Andrey Kovalev, Deputy General Directors of BELAZ, held an award ceremony for the winners and participants of the championship.

– My feelings and emotions go through the roof after the victory. I understood that I had taken the first, golden place and was immensely happy about it! For myself, I realized that I’m work in progress to improve my professional skills. In my understanding, all the participants are champions! They pushed themselves to the lim it! I also want to thank everyone who organized this championship. Many thanks to BELAZ for creating such excellent conditions wh ere every operator can show their skills," Oruj Veliyev, 2026 the championship titleholder, summed up the results of the competition.

A modern mining dump truck is not only about payload capacity and tons of steel, it is a high-tech digital complex on wheels. However, even the smartest on-board computers and intelligent systems are nothing without the person in the cab with ability of a high order. The operator always has the last word. And the anniversary BELAZ Operators Club championship proved once again that it is the human factor, composure and precision accuracy of the driver that turn the most complex machine into an effective tool of the mining industry.

The Partner of Championship: STRIM LLC.