Exim Approves Ukraine Locomotive Sales

The EXIM Board of Directors of the United States (EXIM) last week approved a $156.6 million loan to Ukrainian Railways to support the potential acquisition of 40 Wabtec diesel locomotives.  

The transaction was passed by EXIM’s Board of Directors on April 4 and was announced during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine. April 10.  The transaction was initially disclosed in November.

The bank claims the transaction is is estimated to support 800 jobs at Wabtec in the Western Pennsylvania region, and indirectly supports the rail-related supply chain.

U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, Daleep Singh and Exim Chief Reta Jo Lewis travelled to Kyiv to participate in a series of meetings regarding Ukraine’s restoration efforts. 
 
"This deal, which has been long in the making, is an excellent example of what we can do when we come together, governments and the private sector, to address critical problems,” said U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker. “This locomotive deal has brought together one of our finest American transportation companies, Wabtec, along with the resources of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the government of Ukraine, demonstrating how working together we can tackle challenging problems creatively."

 
This transaction is the first project fully financed by a United States government agency in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in 2022.

Wabtec Favored Exim Borrower

The borrower, Wabtec subsidiary GE Transportation is the largest producer of diesel-electric locomotives North America, believed to hold up to a 70% market share of that market

In September Exim approved a $594 million loan guarantee to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the national railway of Kazakhstan, to support the export of Wabtec locomotive and locomotive shunter kits to KTZ subsidiaries KTZ Freight and KTZ Passenger. 

In January 2024 Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed a civil penalty of $153,175 against Wabtec to resolve 43 violations of the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

Specifically, between February 2018 and July 2022, on forty-three occasions, Wabtec received a request from a customer in Pakistan to refrain from importing Israeli-origin goods into Pakistan in fulfillment of its orders.

Wabtec failed to report to BIS the receipt of these requests, as required by Section 760.5 of the EAR, thereby giving rise to the 43 alleged violations.  [11684]