Two months into the job as head of Ukraine’s state railroad, Volodymyr Zhmak announced yesterday he will drop a $1 billion framework agreement signed in 2018 to buy as many as 200 diesel locomotives from Wabtec Corporation, formerly GE Transportation

Two months into the job as head of Ukraine’s state railroad, Volodymyr Zhmak announced yesterday he will drop a $1 billion framework agreement signed in 2018 to buy as many as 200 diesel locomotives from Wabtec Corporation, formerly GE Transportation. “As for cooperation with General Electric, today I do not see the need for further purchase of General Electric locomotives,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv. “Our goal is to switch to electric locomotives, because it is much more economical.” Of Ukrzaliznytsia’s 23,300 km of track, only 44% is electrified.