THE city of Minsk in Belarus has taken on 200 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans to be used as taxis.

Operated by a private company, the vehicles have been fitted with between 20 to 28 seats and interior fittings were produced by Evobus, a DaimlerChrysler Group member company.

Previously, locally produced vans or those imported from western Europe were used for this type of role.

A spokesman for the DaimlerChrysler Regional Centre for Eastern Europe and North Africa said he believes the Sprinter with Evobus seating has an excellent future in countries which made up the former Soviet Union.

He added that another 80 vehicles have been sold to the Ukraine and negotiations on various other projects look set to be concluded.