Stadler Plans to Build Factory in Georgia
One of the world's leading rolling stock manufacturers, the Swiss company Stadler, is to build a regional factory in Georgia.
Tbilisi Railway JSC, Tbilisi City Hall and the Swiss company Stadler signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on June 22.
The document was signed by Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, owner of Stadler and Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Peter Spuhler, and General Director of Georgian Railway, Davit Peradze.
Before the signing of the memorandum, the sides held a meeting where the prospects of future cooperation were discussed. The meeting was also attended by Vice-Mayor of Tbilisi Irakli Khmaladze and Konstantine Guntsadze, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Georgian Railway.
According to the Mayor of the capital, construction of a new factory is very important in terms of creating new jobs.
“We signed a memorandum with Stadler, which envisages launching negotiations in order to build a metro carriage and train manufacturing factory in Georgia. It is an important project in terms of transport development as it will enable us to introduce new buses and renew metro trains in the capital,” Kaladze stated.
Stadler has already implemented a successful project in Georgia- the four double-decker trains ‘Stadler KISS,’ carrying railway passengers from Tbilisi to Batumi and back. The trains are adapted for people with disabilities and are fully equipped with European standards of safety and comfort.
Georgian Railway believes that it is thanks to Stadler’s successful entry onto the Georgian market, and the improvement of the country’s business environment, that the management of the company decided to establish a regional enterprise with the support of the Government of Georgia, Georgian Railway JSC and Tbilisi City Hall.
“Launching such a high-tech enterprise in our country bears paramount importance for increasing the export potential of Georgia, providing high-end fully equipped railroad passenger trains as well as metro and tram rolling stock for the regional and worldwide markets,” the statement of the Georgian Railway JSC reads.
Stadler Rail was founded in 1942 and since then the company has been producing high-quality and reliable production. It is also focused on niche products and is one of the last European manufacturers of rack railway rolling stock. The holding company consists of eight subsidiaries with locations in Algeria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary and Belarus. Stadler Rail employed approximately 7,000 employees in 2017.
Stadler formed a joint venture with Azerbaijan-based company International Railway Distribution LLC in 2014.
By Thea Morrison