UKRAINE: Export-Import Bank of the United States has approved a US$156·6m 15-year loan which national railway Ukrzaliznytsia will use for the acquisition of 40 Wabtec diesel locomotives.
Ukrzaliznytsia currently operates TE33AS (ES44ACI) locos supplied by GE Transportation, now Wabtec.
The transaction was approved by EXIM on April 4, with final terms to be determined by the end of 2024. The export credit agency said it is the first project fully financed by a US government agency in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and would support an estimated 800 Wabtec jobs in Pennsylvania, and indirectly support the rail supply chain.
US Ambassador Bridget Brink said the deal ‘is good for Ukraine and good for the United States’. It would ’create jobs in both countries and it opens the door for expanded private sector investment and support for Ukraine’.
Ukraine’s Minister for Communities, Territories, Development & Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov said ‘I thank the President and the US government, Congress and the American people for helping and supporting Ukraine in this war. Every cent of aid for Ukrainian Railways is not only an investment in our logistics capacity and infrastructure development. This is a contribution to the defence capability and stability of our state.’
