Kazakhstan's national railway operator KTZ to hold IPO before end-2025 - PM

ALMATY. July 18 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's national railway operator, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), will hold an initial public offering by the end of this year, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said.

"The National Office for Privatization continues its efforts aimed at de-monopolization of [Samruk-Kazyna] Fund's companies (their number has been reduced from 600 to 300), including KazMunayGas, Tau-Ken Samruk, Kazakhtelecom and others. There are also plans to hold IPOs for KTZ by the end of this year and for QazaqGaz in 2026-2027," the prime minister said in a reply to a parliamentary inquiry, posted on the parliament's website.

Earlier reports in December 2024 said Samruk-Kazyna was considering selling between 10% and 25% of KTZ's total shares in 2025. Samruk-Kazyna CEO Nurlan Zhakupov said later that Samruk-Kazyna would sell up to 20% of KTZ shares in an IPO. However, the National Office for Privatization said in late March of this year that KTZ was not yet ready for an IPO. There have been concerns that it is still premature to hold IPOs for a number of subsidiaries of Samruk-Kazyna Group, particularly those that are natural monopolies. This includes KTZ Group.

Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) is a transport, warehousing and distribution company, which is part of Kazakhstan's National Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna. KTZ operates the country's railways, the infrastructure of seaports and airports, transportation and warehousing facilities.