HUNDREDS of jobs are set to be created after a North-East engineering firm won a multimillion- pound order to supply one of Russia’s biggest vehicle makers.

GT Group, based in Peterlee, beat international competitors to secure a £50m contract to build green exhaust systems for a new range of heavy-duty diesel engines for GAZ Group.

The contract will help GT Group, which currently employs 300 workers, to press ahead with its ambitious growth plans and recruit an additional 200 people over the next three years.

GT Group has worked for the past four years with GAZ, Russia’s largest automotive manufacturer of light commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, cars, diesel engines, power-train components and road construction equipment.

The County Durham business beat international competitors to win the contract, which will see it make up to 100,000 systems per year for its Russian partner.

Geoff Turnbull, the chairman of GT Group, said: “This prestigious contract with Russia’s leading manufacturer will further cement GT Group’s rapid growth and its reputation as one of the principal suppliers of engine brakes and exhaust gas control systems for the heavy-- duty diesel engine markets.

“It will also help GT Group achieve its plan to create an additional 200 jobs during the next three years.

“These will cover a range of disciplines, focusing on research, design, manufacture and highly-skilled engineers.”

Having worked for the past four years with GAZ on Euro 3 standard engines, the new engines will meet the latest Euro 4 and Euro 5 emissions standards and will be produced at a new world-class manufacturing facility, due to open in September on the outskirts of Yaroslavl, in the central western part of Russia.

Having experienced a substantial growth in business over the past 12 months, GT is confident that its growing reputation across the world will help to drive growth over the next five years.

Mr Turnbull added: “Our primary business objective is to meet the demands of vehicle manufacturers through the quality of our products and our extensive research and development capabilities.

“GT Group continually strives to improve the efficiency and performance of its products to ensure they deliver the solutions required by the latest and future generation of engines.”

News of the contract was welcomed by Easington MP Grahame Morris, who has visited the GT Group premises several times.

“They’re a local firm who have only been on their present site at Whitehouse Business Park for a couple of years,” he said.

“They’ve identified niches in the market and it’s fair to say they’re at the forefront of technology in green engine manufacturing.

“Thanks to their research and innovative skills, they have found world-wide solutions and are world leaders in their field.

“I’m delighted they’re based in east Durham and have deep roots here.”

Mr Morris said he hoped as many of the new posts as possible would be drawn from local job seekers, and welcomed the fact that GT Group offers training opportunities for young people aiming to start on the work ladder.

But he said the possibility of an extra 200 jobs would only help to make up for some of the posts that will be lost with the planned closure of a nearby pharmaceutical plant.

Reckitt and Benckiser, a neighbour of the GT Group on Whitehouse Business Park, recently announced plans to close its Peterlee production plant to concentrate on sites in Hull and Nottingham, with a potential loss of 321 jobs.