GE wins $500 million service contract in Kazakhstan

business and economy

GE wins $500 million service contract in Kazakhstan

By SRI ⋅ June 2, 2009 ⋅

(SRI) - General Electric (GE) signed a 15-year contract worth about $500 million to service locomotives owned by Kazakhstan TemirZholy, the state-owned railway, GE announced on Friday.

GE also plans to invest in a locomotive assembly plant in Kazakhstan near Astana, the country’s capital, which would employ more than 600 people and be capable of assembling 100 locomotives a year.

The service agreement is the largest outside North America in GE Transportation’s history.

The Astana plant, meanwhile, is nearing completion and is scheduled to begin production of GE’s Evolution Series locomotives by the end of 2009.

“The ongoing cooperation between GE and the Republic of Kazakhstan is proof that a strategic partnership can help fuel long-term economic growth,” Jeff Immelt, GE’s chief executive, said in a statement.

GE in September 2006 won a contract for 310 of its Evolution series locomotives for Kazakhstan’s national railway valued at more than $650 million. The contract called for 10 of the completed locomotives to be shipped to Kazakhstan, and components for the remainder to be sent to the country through 2012 for assembly there.