GE Acquires 50% in Locomotive Kurastyru Zauyty (LKZ) from Kazakhstan Railways

GE Transportation acquires 50% in Kazakhstan-based Locomotive Kurastyru Zauyty (LKZ), Kazakhstan Railways reports. A respective agreement was signed between Kazakhstan Railways and GE Transportation.

“After necessary approval procedures are passed”, GE Transportation will have the same share in LKZ as Transmashholding does. GE Transportation is to provide direct investments into the plant’s development, transfer the latest technologies, establish pre-requisites for new manufacture establishment and export expansion.

“We successfully cooperate with GE Transportation for over 10 years”, Kazakhstan Railways’ President Kanat Alpysbayev said. “During these years around 300 state-of-the-art Evolution locomotives were manufactured and delivered not only to Kazakhstan but in neighboring countries, too”.

“It implies guaranteed development of the plant, continuous performance and new orders”, LKZ Vice President Victor Perminov commented.

LKZ is a locomotive manufacturing facility based in Astana, Kazakhstan. LKZ manufactures TE33A and TEP33A diesel locomotives featuring GE technology. The plant manufactured 302 freight and passenger locomotives. Over 20 locos were supplied to Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.