Kazakhstan Temir Zholy Railways Operator on its plans

Shares of some subsidiaries of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy National Railways Operator Company will be floated within the People’s IPO Program, Bnews.kz reports, citing the Company’s Vice President Ermek Kizatov. “The Company will be tapping into the stock market through its subsidiaries. According to the national law, railways cannot be privatized. Now we are spinning off companies to deal with freight operations, production and maintenance of locomotives (…) Their shares will be floated”, Mr. Kizatov said. Speaking at the Nur Otan party congress on February 11, 2011 President Nazarbayev instructed the Government to launch Initial Public Offerings (IPO) for common people within reasonably shortest time. The program is known as People’s IPO. According to President Nazarbayev, the IPO for the general public will enable citizens to purchase shares of the largest Kazakh companies, giving them a new tool for investments and savings. The Company’s President Askar Mamin announced February 10 that the 2011 net profit of the Company totaled $750 million, “with most of the profit growth assigned to development of transit operations”. In a separate statement, the Company’s Vice President Ermek Kizatov announced that in 2012-2013 the Company plans to make redundant 17% of its administrative staff and 4% of its production-related staff. As a result, over 9 000 people will be effected by the optimization efforts.