Azerbaijan, Baku, March 13 / Trend E. Kosolapova/
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (Kazakh railway) (KTZ) signed the first contract to purchase domestic hopper grain carriage, Kazakh National Innovation Fund reported on Tuesday.
"Grain carries production was launched in ZIKSTO Petropavlovsk's plant with support of the Design Bureau of Transport Engineering. According to the contract, the plant will produce and supply 200 carriages to KTZ in 2012," the Fund said.
The contract is worth over 2.7 billion tenge ($18.25 million).
All costs were funded from the Design Bureau of Transport Engineering within the state program on forced industrial-innovative development for 2010-2014.
The Bureau is a 100 percent subsidiary of the Kazakh National Innovation Fund.
Kazakhstan has collected roughly 27 million tons of grain in net weight in 2011. This is a record grain harvest within years of independence. Export potential is estimated at 15 million tons. However, the republic has problems with grain storage and export due to a lack of grain carriers. Kazakh park grain inventory currently stands at 5,200 wagons, however the country needs roughly 15,000 carriages to implement its export plan.