UWC to ship batch of box cars to transport company FT Logistic in deal financed by TransFin-M

Research and production corporation “United Wagon Company” (“UWC”, the “Group” or the “Company”) (MOEX: UWGN), Russia’s largest manufacturer of freight cars¹, TransFin-M, one of Russia’s biggest leasing companies, and FT Logistic, a freight forwarding company, have signed a trilateral agreement. The document makes provisions for the shipment of 200 box cars to FT Logistic’s fleet, as well as the financing of the acquisition of the rolling stock by TransFin-M. The full batch of cars is set to be shipped by the end of next year.

The model 11-6874 box car is a universal solution for transporting both outsized lightweight and heavy small-sized freight. This is made possible through the car’s balanced technical specifications: a loading capacity of 73 t achieved through the use of a bogie with a 25 t axle load and a body volume of 175 m³.

Special care has been taken to improve the usability. The size of the car’s door openings has been increased compared with standard models, while the sliding doors move seamlessly on roller supports. Four loading hatches on the body’s roof and side walls provide for convenient loading of bulk freight. The body’s floor is made of corrugated steel sheeting, improving surface grip for both the freight itself and the wheels of the loading device. All of these distinctive design features significantly aid loading and unloading operations and increase their speed and safety.

The box car is equipped with an innovative bogie with an axle load of 25 t, increasing its maintenance interval up to 1 million km (or eight years). Standard equivalent models are sent for their first depot repair after running 210,000 km (or three years after construction) with subsequent repairs carried out every 110,000–160,000 km (or three years).

Ekaterina Smirnova, CEO at FT Logistic: “We are well acquainted with the new generation Tikhvin-produced cars, and have been operating them in our company’s fleet since 2017 with strong results. Thanks to our positive experience of operating Tikhvin-produced cars and the financial support from our longstanding partner TransFin-M, we have been able to choose UWC from among several offers available on the market and quickly close the deal. The new batch of cars will allow us to offer our clients the most favourable possible terms of transportation.”

¹Data sourced from INFOLine-Analytics: https://infoline.spb.ru/news/?news=203409