The French concern Alstom is ready to increase the level of localization in the contract for the supply of electric locomotives to Ukraine, French Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has said. “For example, with regard to the contract for the supply of electric locomotives, Alstom is ready to localize up to 35% of production and service in Ukraine. At the beginning of the discussion, Alstom planned to localize about 20% of production in Ukraine. We realized that this was not enough. This is a vivid evidence of our readiness to take into account the legitimate request of the Ukrainian authorities,” Le Maire said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that France fully understands the request of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who wants French companies involved in contracts with Ukraine to locate a significant part of their production in Ukraine.
“This is a perfectly legal requirement, and we acted accordingly,” Le Maire said.
The Minister said that France has a long history with Ukraine, and he is determined to open a new chapter of this long journey from an economic point of view.
“There is a significant network of French companies in Ukraine: now there are 160 French companies in the country, employing 30,000 people. This makes French companies the leading international employers in Ukraine. We also want to strengthen our ties in very specific sectors: utilities with distribution of drinking water, energy, infrastructure and transport such as trains, healthcare and, of course, agriculture. In all these sectors, I think there are opportunities for deepening and expanding relations,” Le Maire said.
Ukraine and France may soon sign an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation with ALSTOM for the implementation of a project for the supply of electric locomotives to a company with partial localization of their production and maintenance in Ukraine.
This was announced by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who is the head of the the Ukrainian-French Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, during negotiations with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Ukraine Etienne de Ponsen and head of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC Volodymyr Zhmak on Friday, the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
“We have been working on the details of a common project with the French side for a long time and in the near future we can reach the signing of an intergovernmental agreement that will fully meet the needs of Ukraine,” the press service quoted Avakov as saying.
Zhmak, in his turn, said during the negotiations that Ukrzaliznytsia has a very old park and it needs to be strategically updated. At this stage, according to him, Ukrzaliznytsia is interested in 50 two-system electric locomotives capable of transporting from 5,500 to 6,000 tonnes of cargo.
“We need these locomotives with a long-term system of maintenance and localization of production in Ukraine. At the second stage, we are interested in getting single-system locomotives,” he said.
CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge assured that it could be a reliable and long-term partner for Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukraine.
“We have been working in the market for many years and we can satisfy the needs of Ukrzaliznytsia. ALSTOM has experience in working in markets with the localization of production and service capacities. This strengthens our cooperation and creates new jobs. In particular, we work in this way in Kazakhstan and South Africa,” he said.
The ministry also notes that this project was founded in September 2018, when ALSTOM and Ukrzaliznytsya signed a memorandum of understanding, which formalizes cooperation in the provision and maintenance of electric locomotives. The financial model of the project involves the attraction of credit funds from the French State Treasury and other sources.
As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on October 27 met with CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge and discussed with him the prospects for the implementation of joint projects in the railway sector.
The French machine building company ALSTOM is one of the world leaders in the production of power equipment and railway transport.
Alstom (France), a manufacturer of rolling stock and infrastructure, is interested in subway modernization projects in Ukraine, Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge has told reporters in Kyiv.
“We know that the subway in Ukraine should be modernized. So far we have not conducted any negotiations on this, but in principle this could be a project for cooperation,” he noted.
According to the Alstom CEO, first of all, the company is interested in cooperation with large cities.
“First of all, we are interested in Kyiv, because the larger the metro network in the city, the more interesting cooperation with it is. But so far we have not met with the local authorities, only at the government level,” the expert said.
Alstom is one of the world’s leaders (along with Siemens and Bombardier) in the production of power equipment and railway transport. The company’s revenue in the 2017-2018 fiscal year grew by 8.8%, to EUR7.95 billion.
France’s Alstom, the producer of rolling stock and infrastructure solutions, is interested in cooperation with public joint-stock company Ukrzaliznytsia, Managing Director for Western and Central Asia at Alstom Bernard Peille said during the presentation of the first freight electric locomotive for Azerbaijan Railways in Astana (Kazakhstan), an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported.
“We recently held talks with Ukrzaliznytsia. According to them, they will need about 210 locomotives of four different types in the next five years. Basically, as we know, they are freight locomotives. We are ready to do this, but everything depends on financing, as well as on what percentage of localization is required,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
Peille also said that Alstom is actively seeking various options for financing supplies of traction to the Ukrainian railways.
Prima T8 AZ8A freight electric locomotive presented in Astana on Wednesday is made under a contract signed by the company and Azerbaijan Railways for supply of 50 locomotives, including Prima M4 AZ4A passenger locomotives.
France’s Alstom, the producer of rolling stock and infrastructure solutions, plans to open a representative office in Ukraine in several months, in particular, the office in Kyiv, Managing Director for Western and Central Asia at Alstom Bernard Peille told Interfax-Ukraine during the presentation of the first freight electric locomotive for Azerbaijan Railways in Astana (Kazakhstan). “We have found a person who would present the interests of Alstom in Ukraine and develop business for us. This person would be also responsible for opening of our office in Kyiv,” he said.
Peille also said that Alstom plans to open the office in Kyiv in coming months, adding that he cannot specify the date, as many things depend on administrative work in Ukraine, which the company does not know well.
Prima T8 AZ8A freight electric locomotive presented in Astana on Wednesday is made under a contract signed by the company and Azerbaijan Railways for supply of 50 locomotives, including Prima M4 AZ4A passenger locomotives.
