Tag Archives: rail

Swede charged with paying massive bribe to Azerbaijani railway exec

JUNE 13 2021 (The Bulletin) — Prosecutors in Sweden charged Thomas Bimer, a former executive at engineering firm Bombardier, of corruption linked to a $350m signalling project that the company won in Azerbaijan in 2013. According to press reports, Mr Bimer was part of a scheme to pay a $100m bribe to a mid-ranking official at Azerbaijani Railways for the contract. Mr Bimer and Bombardier deny any wrongdoing.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Uzbekistan rail company denies that Tashkent retreat was built for president

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MARCH 10 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s state railway company released a video that claimed that a luxury retreat built in hills outside Tashkent is for its employees and not for Uzbek Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The video is a response to a report released by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty which said that the complex had been built as a palace for Mr Mirziyoyev and that Uzbek Railways have been used to shield its real use.

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— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Azeraijan and Iran extend railway cooperation

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JAN. 19 2021 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan and Iran signed a deal to extend their cooperation in the railway sector, media reported. Iran has increasingly tried to engage its neighbours in the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan-Iran relations have improved over the past five years or so and the heads of their railway companies emphasised the importance of the Rasht-Astara cross border railway link.

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— This story was first published in issue 469 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Kazakhstan Railways to sell wagon manufacturing site

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JULY 24 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan Temir Zholy plans to sell its Tulpar Wagon manufacturing plant, a factory that Kazakh officials often hold up as one of the most advanced in the country. Media reported that a joint venture between Spain’s Talgo and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy ended in 2019. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy did not say how much they expected to raise from the sale.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Armenia will become an important rail link, says Iran

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DEC. 31 2019 (The Bulletin) — Iranian officials said that the completion of a railway connecting Iran to Armenia will turn it into an important transit route along the new Silk Road stretching from China to Europe. Iranian media quoted the country’s deputy minister of road and urban development, Kheirollah Khademim, as saying that when the railway is being built from Tabriz and that “Armenia will also construct a highway that will turn it into an international corridor”. Armenia and Iran have been improving bilateral ties to offset both of their relative regional isolation.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

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Switzerland’s Stadler seals 115m euro deal with Azerbaijan

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NOV. 27 (The Bulletin) — Swiss train-maker Stadler said that it had agreed to sell 10 five-carriage Flirt units to Azerbaijan’s national railway operator for 115m euros. The Flirt series are Stadlers inter-city trains. Stadler has previously sold sleeping carriages to Azerbaijan in 2014 for its international services and in 2015 and 2018 it signed deals for its double-decker Kiss carriages.
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— This story was first published in issue 430 of the weekly Bulletin.

France’s Alstom delivers train engines to Azerbaijan

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DEC. 19 (The Conway Bulletin) – French train manufacturer Alstom delivered the first of 40 Prima T8 AZ8A freight locomotives, built at its plant in Astana, to a depot near Baku, Azerbaijan. The locomotives will operate along the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route, linking Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, a new trade corridor for goods crossing Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

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>>This story was first published in issue 395 of The Conway Bulletin on Dec. 23 2018

Kazakhstan wants high-speed train to Beijing

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OCT. 12 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan is keen to build a high-speed train link between Beijing and Astana which will also connect China to Moscow and Berlin. Kazakh PM Bakytzhan Sagintayev suggested the infrastructure project at a meeting of heads of governments of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states in Dushanbe. He said that a high-speed train link was an obvious extension for China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

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>>This story was first published in issue 388 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 17 2018

Russia’s Transmashholding buys Kazakh rail carriage maker

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SEPT. 27 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s Transmasholding has signed a deal to buy 99% of the railway carriage maker Tuplar-Talgo from Kazakhstan’s Temirzholy state railway company, media reported. Media reported that the deal was signed on Sept. 20. The Tulpar-Talgo plant was opened in Astana on 2011 to produce railway stock for companies in Central Asia.
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>>This story was published in issue 387 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 1 2018

Afghan rail link via Turkmenistan to is on, says Tajikistan

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SEPT. 25 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s government said that a project to link up Afghanistan and Tajikistan with an 80km railway through Turkmenistan was still ongoing despite news reports quoting the Tajik ambassador to Turkmenistan saying that it had been cancelled. Turkmenistan and Tajikistan have rowed over the past few weeks over delays at the Turkmen border for Tajik trucks trying to cross to Afghanistan. This has fuelled speculation that Tajik-Turkmen relations and joint projects would be damaged.
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>>This story was published in issue 387 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 1 2018