Skoda Transportation considering two sites in Kazakhstan for manufacturing electric buses and trams

ASTANA. April 24 (Interfax) - The Czech Republic's Skoda Transportation is considering sites in two cities in Kazakhstan as part of plans to organize the manufacturing of electric buses and trams in the country, Jandos Temirgali, Deputy Chairman of the Kazakh Invest state company that oversees attracting foreign investment to Kazakhstan, said at the Kazakhstan-Czech Republic business forum in Astana.

"Thanks to the efforts of the Kazakh side, fruitful negotiations were held with Skoda Transportation, and we are talking today about localizing manufacturing," Temirgali told reporters on the sidelines of the business forum.

"We are talking about producing electric buses and trams in Kazakhstan. Almaty and Pavlodar are under consideration for the two manufacturing facilities. This is a flagship project with a large amount of investment, and there are not any similar production facilities in Kazakhstan," Temirgali specified.

Kazakhstan also held negotiations last year with Skoda Transportation on establishing the manufacturing of electric buses and trams. In addition to the representatives from Kazakh Invest, Kazakhstan's Temir Zholy railways and the Czech Republic's Elektrotechnika, which manufactures various types of traction systems for tram and trolleybus networks, as well as for metro and railway transport, participated in the negotiations.

Skoda Transportation, which is part of Germany's Volkswagen concern, is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of railway rolling stock, trams, trolleybuses, and electric buses.