The Likino Bus Plant (LiAZ), located in the Moscow region, implemented a four-day work week in July due to a significant downturn in the Russian bus market. The company’s press service attributes the change to a 60% drop in bus sales, resulting from reduced procurement of new public transport in the region.

The reduced work schedule is intended to adjust production to current market demands while retaining jobs and maintaining the existing social package for employees, which includes benefits such as subsidized recreation vouchers and food allowances. The plant will assess the work schedule monthly, basing decisions on the volume of public transport orders.

LiAZ is known for manufacturing various buses, including the first electric bus launched in Moscow, which began passenger testing in February 2017, along with the familiar blue buses and articulated buses used throughout the city. The plant also announced plans in October 2023 to begin production of the Citymax 12 large-class low-floor city bus in 2024.

Other major automotive manufacturers are also experiencing similar challenges. KAMAZ, another bus supplier for Moscow, is also moving employees to a four-day work week starting August 1 due to underutilized production capacity, citing a crisis in the heavy truck market in Russia. GAZ previously announced its transition to a four-day week beginning in August, citing a “critical fall in the commercial transport market.”