Alstom Signs a Memorandum of Understanding With State-Owned Samruk for Rail and Power Generation Projects in Kazakhstan

Regulatory News: In the framework of the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to France, Patrick Kron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alstom (Paris:ALO), and Kanat Bozumbayev, President of Kazakhstan’s state-owned company Samruk, signed on 11 June 2008, in Paris, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning several projects in rail transport and power generation in Kazakhstan. Under the terms of this MOU, Alstom and Samruk will cooperate on important programmes for the economic and social development of this country. In the area of rail transport, Alstom is negotiating with the Kazakh railway maintenance company, Kamkor, for the modernisation of 145 VL-80 electric locomotives. The project involves Alstom supplying new components (transformers, asynchronous motors) for these locomotives. The partners are also studying the assembly under licence of electric locomotives in Kazakhstan. A second project under consideration is for Alstom to supply four Pendolino high speed tilting trainsets, along with their maintenance. These tilting trains will run between two large urban centres - Kazakhstan’s capital city, Astana, and Almaty - 1,200 km apart. In power generation, the two partners are committed to developing cooperation in several areas : modernisation of power plants, integration of « clean » power technologies for electricity produced from coal, gas or renewable energies. Within this scope, Alstom is preparing to participate in the invitation to tender for a new phase of the Balkash coal power plant (2 x 660 MW). Regarding social development cooperation, Alstom has expressed its intention to take an active part in the "Bolashak” training programme, which allows young Kazakh professionals to enjoy the best training courses available in the world. Consequently, Alstom will offer internships to several Kazakh students in 2008. Covering a surface area of 2.7 million km2 and with 15 million inhabitants, Kazakhstan benefits from a subsoil rich in hydrocarbons, coal and uranium. It has a unique geographic situation at the crossroads of the flow of wealth and people between Asia and Europe. The country is experiencing sharp economic growth (around 9% in 2008) and is seeking to develop its infrastructure.