Georgia Terminates Contract for Supply of Russian Mainline Electric Locomotives

On August 12, the board of directors of “Georgian Railways” (GR) decided to terminate the contract with Georgia Ltd, this is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The contract, signed last year, involved the supply of ten freight electric locomotives of the 3ES6 model produced by the Ural Locomotives plant, which is part of the Sinara Group.

Moldova Launches Major Overhaul of Railway Tracks: 80 km of Routes to be Updated in 2024

The relevant information was published on the Georgian government procurement website.

The reason for the contract termination was to avoid the risk of secondary sanctions. In June, the company Sinara – Transport Machines was added to the US sanctions lists.

The contract, which included the supply of equipment and maintenance, was valued at 183.8 million Georgian lari (68.3 million USD) excluding VAT, which estimates each locomotive at an average of 5.8 million USD.

The locomotives were intended for the Baku – Tbilisi – Kars line, which connects Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, facilitating freight transport from Asia to Europe.

This transportation artery has strategic importance for Georgia’s economy.

According to Sergey Belov, the editor-in-chief of ROLLINGSTOCK Agency, the beneficiary of the situation resulting from the contract termination will be the Chinese company CRRC, which can offer locomotives of the required power with minimal certification costs.

Photo: matvei.verholyak/railgallery

Rail business, industry, and railway technology news from Railway Supply that you might have missed:

Kazakhstan Launches $2.9 Billion Railway Projects: New Lines, Transit Acceleration, and Station Decongestion