Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev has commented on information regarding the large debts of JSC "NC "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy" (KTZ).
According to data from Ulysmedia.kz, the minister stated that since 2020 the national company has been profitable. He acknowledged that there had previously been a loss-making period. The debt of 2.9 trillion tenge arose because the state did not allocate funds.
He noted that the national company is currently implementing many large projects related to construction and the renewal of passenger and locomotive fleets. According to him, these are being carried out using KTZ's own funds.
"In certain cases, the state subsidises part of their costs. That also happens, for example, in passenger transport, but to this day KTZ has never defaulted on a single loan. All of KTZ's loans are paid on time. Moreover, since 2020 the company has been profitable. Last year, the company's net profit after paying all debts amounted to 134 billion tenge", he said.
For context, earlier the head of the Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC) Alikhan Smailov stated that the KTZ company is unable to meet its obligations and is in the "red" zone of credit risk. He noted that at the start of 2024, the company's debt stood at 2.9 trillion tenge and continues to grow. He also said that 45%, or 1.3 trillion tenge, of the total debt was directed towards refinancing previously incurred debt obligations.