Ukrainian Railways to buy 44 passenger cars from Kryukov plant for $54 mln

MOSCOW. Oct 18 (Interfax) - Ukrzaliznytsia or Ukrainian Railways has signed a contract with the Kryukov Railway Car Building Works (KVSZ) to buy 44 passenger cars for UAH1.95 billion (about $53.7 million at current exchange rate) for delivery by December 31, 2025.

"We are continuing to systematically update rolling stock - a tender has concluded, a contract for 44 passenger cars has been signed. The final cost of the new cars was 1,951,008,600 hryvnia. The winner of the tender was the Kryukov Railway Car Building Works. The purchase will be financed from the state budget," Ukrainian media reported, citing a Ukrainian Railways statement on Telegram.

The contract includes 20 four-berth sleeper cars, 12 two-berth sleeper cars, nine open-plan sleeper cars, "which will be purchased for the first time since 2008," and three cars for carrying passengers with disabilities, the company said.

The new cars will have air conditioning, baby changing tables, plugs and USB ports for fast charging of devices, coffee makers and modern lighting control systems, as well as video surveillance systems.

The cars with greater accessibility for wheelchair users will "provide these passengers with an additional level of comfort and all other cars will also be equipped with additional means to increase accessibility," the company reported CEO Yevgeny Lyaschenko as saying.

KVSZ was the only bidder in the tender for the 44 new passenger cars. In the spring of 2023, the plant completed an order to deliver 100 passenger cars to Ukrainian Railways under a contract worth over UAH3 billion signed in 2021.

In June, Ukrainian Railways called off a tender to buy 20 passenger cars for UAH882 million because there were no bidders.

The official exchange rate was UAH36.33/$1 on October 17.