Ukrainian Factory Wins Tender for Supply of Buses for Batumi

By the end of 2018, JSC "Cherkasy Bus" will supply 40 city low-floor buses (A092N6) to the Adjaran municipality of Batumi, having won a tender to do so, reports Interfax-Ukraine with reference to the message of the Mayor of Batumi.

The first 15 buses of Isuzu Ataman have already been delivered and presented and will be appearing on the streets of the city from this week. The remainder will be delivered by the end of the year.

The buses, based on Japanese ISUZU units, are designed for 60 people, and come equipped with a GPS system, air-conditioning and are adapted for people with disabilities.

According to the report, the purchase of buses is financed by the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction with low interest rates.

The cost of the contract was not disclosed, but according to media reports, in the summer of 2017, the government of Georgia and the EBRD agreed to provide a loan of €5.5 million to finance the renovation of the bus fleet in Batumi, which in 2019 also plans to purchase city electric buses.

Cherkasy Bus was, until 2011, part of the corporation Bogdan, which in late 2008 won a tender for the delivery of 83 city buses of small class Bogdan A092 to Batumi. That year, 190 buses were delivered to Georgia, including 40 buses A092 and 150 buses of the middle class.

In 2011, Zeta's closed-end venture investment fund, managed by Assy Life Asset Management (Easy Life, Kyiv), became the new owner of the factory, and the company registered the trade mark of the bus - Ataman.

According to the association "Ukrautoprom", in January-July of this year, the plant produced 250 buses - 35% more than in the same period of 2017 (total in Ukraine for seven months 461 buses produced).

By Dimitri Dolaberidze