Egyptian Ambassador Hails Deal With Russia's Transmashholding On Railcar Deliveries

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st November, 2018) Egyptian Ambassador to Russia Ihab Nasr praised on Wednesday the deal between his country and Russia's JSC Transmashholding railroad machines manufacturer that was reached in September, saying that the agreement was a win-win partnership for both parties.

Earlier on Wednesday, a group of about 20 heads of foreign missions in Russia visited the headquarters of the Metrowagonmash engineering company, which is part of JSC Transmashholding, located in the city of Mytishchi in the Moscow Region.

"The cooperation between Egypt and Transmashholding ... is being transformed into one of the biggest success stories. It is an excellent win-win partnership for both parties. The contract ... might be one of the largest of its kind in the railway sector ... But what makes me particularly glad is that it is a start of a long-term partnership," the ambassador stated during the event.

The diplomat revealed that under the deal about 45 percent of production would be localized in Egypt, recalling that a joint manufacturing plant would be set up in the country to that end.

"This manufacturing plant will be able to cover the needs and ambitious projects both of the Arab region and the big part of the African continent," Nasr believed.

In late September, the Transmashholding-Hungary, a Russian-Hungarian railway car building consortium, and Egyptian National Railways (ENR) signed a five-year contract on the delivery of 1,300 passenger cars to Egypt. Transmashholding-Hungary was awarded the contract after winning the bid called by ENR. Companies from China, India, Italy, Romania and Spain have also taken part in the tender. The contract's total cost is estimated at 1 billion Euros ($1.14 billion).