Russian businessman Stanislav Gamzalov in recent days finalized a deal to purchase more than a 10 percent share in Kriukov Railway Car Plant through an Austria-based holding company. The deal comes ahead of a state purchase program for high-speed trains from Ukraine’s passenger train car monopolist and a possible expansion into the Russian market.
Vienna-based OW Capital
Management GmbH purchased more than 10 percent of Kriukov railway car
plant shares, according to a publication by Ukrainian stock market’s
Infrastructure Development Agency, a database of company filings, on
Oct. 5.
The plant’s
management confirmed the purchase, but would not elaborate on the
size of their stake purchased or its price.
Earlier in August
Ukraine’s antimonopoly committee allowed the Austrian company to
acquire a 25 percent plus one share in the Kriukov plant, a major
producer of passenger and cargo train cars.
The Austrian holding is
controlled by Russian businessman Stanislav Gamzalov, who also owns
the Zavod Metallokonstruktsiy metal factory in Russia, according to
Roman Dmytrenko, analyst at leading investment bank Concorde Capital.
Gamzalov could not be
immediately reached for comment.
Earlier in August.
Viktor Voronovich, general director of Gamzalov’s Zavod
Metallokonstruktsiy, was appointed as a member of the supervisory
board of the Kriukov plant.
Dmytrenko said a 25
percent share of the Kriukov plant is worth around $145 million,
according to Concorde Capital valuations.
Ukraine’s Prime
Minister Mykola Azarov in August announced the government would buy
high-speed diesel trains from the Kriukov plant, rather than
expanding on its purchase of Korean Hyundai trains, bought for the
Euro 2012 football championship. “Kriukov (Railway) Car Building
Works built a train that is not better and not worse than Hyundai,
which runs on our railways today. We will never buy Hyundai again. We
will buy trains produced by Kriukov plant,” Azarov told news
agency Interfax-Ukraine in mid August. Ukraine’s rail monopoly Ukrzaliznytsia last
month asked the government to fund a $1 billion fleet renovation and
expansion plan.
The plant’s president
Volodymyr Prykhodko announced today the plant will build its first
high-speed diesel trains in 2013.
Kriukov has been
successfully exporting its cargo train cars to Russia, and passenger
train cars to Belarus and Central Asia. So far, however, now
passenger cars have been sold in Russia.
Dmytrenko speculated that
the Russian investor’s acquisition of a significant share of the
Kriukov plant could potentially make it easier to push its passenger
units onto the Russian market.
Analysts believe the 25
percent share acquired by the Austrian firm mostly comes from a 23.3
percent stake repurchased from TAS Group, whose former management
board chairman was Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Sergiy Tigipko, as
well as free floating shares.
Remaining shareholders
include two Estonian companies AS Skinest Finants (25.15 percent) and
Osauhing Divinta (14.52 percent), and British company Transbuilding
Service Limited (24.93 percent), all reportedly controlled by
Prykhodko.
When reached by phone
Prykhodko refused by discuss the purchase of the plant’s share.
Kyiv Post staff
writer Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at [email protected]
