Turkmenistan Substantially Increases Acquisitions of Russian Freight Cars

In 2015 Turkmenistan bought Russian freight cars at 8.4 M USD, which is 3.6 times higher than 2014, the RZD-Partner. The demand for Russian cars in Turkmenistan is to rise in 2016, Denis Rudakov, Head - Analytic Dept. with OZhdPS Non-Commercial Partnership said.

The reason for the acquisition increase is declining Russian ruble exchange rate. Turkmenistan, in its turn, showed an increase of construction material manufacture and mineral fertilizer production in 2015. Furthermore, Turkmenistan is to host Asian Olympics in 2017. Therefore, the demand for Russian freight cars is to be increasing in 2016 - 2017.

The average age of the Turkmenistan freight car fleet is 29 years. It is comparable to Armenia (34 years), Moldova and Kyrgyzstan (33 years), Georgia (31 years) and Uzbekistan (30 years). One of the core issues in exporting rolling stock is the need to certify the products in compliance with foreign requirements.