Large car building companies allow their production volumes and firm contracts to develop localization at a new level. This opinion was expressed by the participants of the forum on increasing localization in railway engineering, which was held today in the capital's industrial zone. The participants also proposed to develop an appropriate Roadmap, which will present further plans for the development of large industrial enterprises.
Today, Minister of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kanat Sharlapayev delivered a welcoming speech at a forum dedicated to increasing the level of localization in the domestic production of railway engineering. The forum was held on the basis of JSC "Electric locomotive kurastyru zauyty" on the territory of the industrial zone of Astana city.
"The sector accounts for about 13% of Kazakhstan's mechanical engineering industry. The volume of production is more than half a trillion tenge. There are 59 enterprises operating in the industry, employing 8.4 thousand people," the Minister stressed.
Kanat Sharlapayev noted that in 2024, domestic plants produced 124 locomotives, which is a record figure for Kazakhstan and about 2,155 different wagons. In recent years, the business has been actively investing in the modernization and development of railway engineering. One of the biggest steps was the creation of new and modernization of existing factories for the production of wagons and components.
In general, according to the results of 11 months of 2024, the volume of rolling stock production increased by 5.1 times, including wagons and platforms – by 6.5 times, track repair equipment – by 4.9 times, locomotives – by 12.4%, cylindrical roller bearings – by 49.7%, wheels and gears – by 5.2 times.
Chairman of the Committee of Industry of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan Azamat Panbayev, Chairman of the Committee of Railway and Water Transport of the Ministry of Transport Zhanibek Taizhanov, Managing Director for Production Processes of JSC NC KTZ B.Urynbasarov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Union of Machine Builders of Kazakhstan E.Makanov, as well as heads of industry enterprises also spoke at the event.
During the forum, representatives of Kurastyru Zauyty Electric Locomotive LLP (Alstom), Kurastyru Zauyty Locomotive JSC (Wabtec), Stadler Kazakhstan LLP, Kazakhstan Wagon Building Company LLP and ZIXTO LLP made presentations on the activities of their enterprises. Representatives of Vostokmashzavod JSC, Kostanay Spring Plant and Qarmet JSC also spoke.
"For 14 years we have been building up our potential, both industrial and human. Today, we employ 1,200 qualified employees, whose activities are aimed not only at the production of high–quality components and assembly of the electric locomotive itself, but also at the service and maintenance of locomotives to ensure that locomotives and electric locomotives fully meet all technical requirements," said Jerome Boyer, Managing Director of Alstom for Western and Central Asia.
In his speech, Nurlybek Akhmetov, Head of Production at JSC Locomotive Kurastyru Zauyty (Wabtec), noted that at the moment the plant's product line includes mainline locomotives, freight, passenger and others. The company employs about 800 people.
Vladimir Rusak, Director of Stadler Kazakhstan LLP, also stressed that the company plans to produce trolleys, welding wagons, including electrical control systems. In addition, it is planned to work only with local component suppliers.
In turn, Shota Abkhazov, the founder of the Texol group of companies Atyrau Car Building Plant LLP, stressed that large car building companies allow their production volumes and firm contracts to develop localization at a new level.
"Currently, we produce only universal gondola cars designed for the transportation of bulk goods. The models are the most in demand. Approximately 60% of rail transport is carried out in this type of carriage. The plant's capacity is 3,000 gondola cars," said Talgat Lesov, First Deputy General Director of TOO SMP Group.
Pavel Rudovsky, Commercial Director of Railways Systems KZ LLP, in addition to the existing range of products, also spoke about the planned project for the construction of an electrometallurgical plant with a capacity of 1,000,000 tons. The plant, which will be launched in 2028, will produce round and square billets, channel, I-beam, wagon rack profile, etc.
Sergey Usenko, Executive Director of Pruzhina Scientific and Production Company LLP, stressed that in January the company began production of serial products and is ready to work with manufacturers of locomotives and wagons to produce products necessary for Kazakhstani car-building plants.
It is worth adding that in order to further develop and modernize the field of railway engineering, the Ministry is working to invest in new technologies and localize production. This will reduce dependence on imports. Measures are also being taken to develop new types of rolling stock. It is planned to produce new types of locomotives and wagons, including electric locomotives and environmentally friendly vehicles that meet modern energy efficiency and safety requirements. As part of the strategy to increase exports, Kazakhstan needs to strengthen its export potential through the development of partnerships. This will not only expand export shipments, but also integrate domestic enterprises into international supply chains.
It should be noted that Kazakhstan's car–building plants are ready to cover the need for gondola cars, platforms and refrigerated wagons, and from 2027 - for covered wagons and gasoline tanks. Due to the implementation of proposals for the development of the car building industry, tax revenues to the state budget will increase, a new impetus will appear for the development of a cluster of domestic engineering and favorable conditions for private owners-operators of wagons to upgrade the domestic fleet of freight wagons.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mps/press/news/details/915471