ALMATY, APRIL 12 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — GE Transportation, a division of US engineering giant GE, bought a 50% stake in Kazakh train maker Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty for an undisclosed amount.

The deal could be one of the biggest investments by a Western company in a Kazakh engineering company outside the extractive industries this year.

In a press release Jamie Miller, the GE Transportation CEO, as saying: “Kazakhstan has a strategic plan for its railroad to support economic growth and increased regional trade, and today’s announcement underscores GE’s commitment to working with KTZ to ensure that Kazakhstan’s rail infrastructure remains modern and reliable.”

For Kazakhstan the deal will likely be a relief, although the amount that GE Transportation paid for its 50% stake has not been released. It has been trying to attract more Western investment into industries outside the oil, gas and mining sectors. Its railway sector is one area in which it has been investing heavily.

Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty was set up in 2009 by Kazakh railway company Temir Zholy and Russia’s Transmashholding. It is Central Asia and the South Caucasus’ biggest manufacturer of locomotive trains and exports across the region.

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FEB. 8 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Serbia has agreed to sell its 90.64% stake in railway construction and maintenance firm ZGOP to Kazakhstan’s Zhol Zhondeushi for 3.63m euros, media reported. ZGOP is based in the Serbian city of Novi Sad and employs 290 people and has outstanding debts of $8.2m. In 2012, Zhol Zhondeushi made headlines after it emerged that it had been sold by ENRC to one of the company’s nephew’s for an inflated price.

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