Luhanskteplovoz


Luhanskteplovoz, earlier known as Voroshilovgrad Locomotive works is a large industrial company in Luhansk, Ukraine, manufacturing locomotives, multiple unit trains as well as other heavy equipment.
The company was founded in 1896 as Russische Maschinenbaugesellschaft Hartmann in Luhansk and renamed Lokomotive factory Octoberrevolution in 1918 following the Russian revolution.
In the second half of the twentieth century the plant produced thousands of the well known 'M62' and DR Class 130 diesel electric locomotives for eastern European Soviet Bloc countries.

History

1896 to 1995

The plant was founded in 1896 by Gustav Hartmann, the first locomotive being produced in 1900; by 1906 the factory's output was comparable to the two major locomotive production centres in Russia at that time : the Bryansk works and the Putilov works. Between 1928 and 1933 the works was expanded and production of the powerful 2-10-2 locomotives of the FD class and 2-8-4 configuration IS class began.
During the second world war work switched to military production, the plant being evacuated twice in the course of the war. By 1945 locomotive production has resumed with SO class
In 1956 steam locomotive production ceased; over 12,000 steam locomotives having been produced, and the plant was converted to the production of locomotives powered by diesel engines by 1957
Initially diesel machines using hydraulic transmissions TG101, TG102, TG105, TG106 ' were produced, though eventually electrical transmissions became the norm on Russian railways, such as mainline locomotive type 2TE10L and its variants, which started production at Luhansk in 1962, eventually more than 12,000 units had been produced. In 1965 the first M62 locomotive was produced at the plant.
In 1967 the TE109 locomotive was created; using an AC/DC electrical transmission, which formed the basis for a successful series of locomotives, better known in western Europe by the standard gauge version : DR Class 130 and variants. Later products included the high powered TE121 and variants introduced 1977, and working experiments in AC traction TE120 and 2TE127, and liquified gas powered locos 2TE10G and 2TE116G - the latter based on the 2TE116 diesel.
In the late 1970s the plant was expanded and a record of over 100 locomotive units produced per month was achieved in the 1980s. Later in the 1990s mining machinery and urban transit rolling stock became part of the factories portfolio. With the breakup of the Soviet union the plant became the property of the Ukrainian state and in 1995 the state holding company Luhanskteplovoz''' was created.

1995 onwards

Since 1997 the plants has started production of diesel multiple units such as DAL-01, DEL-02, DPL1 and DPL2, electric multiple units :ru:Электропоезд ЭПЛ2Т|EPL2T and EPL9T as well as passenger diesel locomotive TE114I .

Privatisation

After becoming part of state owned property following Ukrainian independence the process of privatising the company put under consideration in 2005, in 2006 potential shareholders were OJSC Demikhovsky Machine-Building Plant, DniproVagonMash, OJSC Marganets Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise, CJSC Management company Bryansk Machine-Building Plant. Of the bidders only two: Bryansk machine building and Demikhovsky machine building were selected as suitable; both being part of the Transmashholding group of companies. The successful buyer was Bryansk machine building plant, offering 292.5 million Ukrainian hryvnia for a 76% stake; this was only 0.5 million more than the bidding auction starting price. Analysts at the time valued the asset at $200 million.
The then president Viktor Yushchenko believed that the Ukrainian people had been defrauded, with the business being sold for a fraction of its true worth. The then prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko also called for a review of the privatisation of Luhanskteplovoz along with two other enterprises Dniproenergo and Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant and BYuT MPs petitioned the Prosecutor General's Office for criminal proceedings to take place concerning alleged criminal activity by the heads of the State Property Fund.
The sale was ruled illegal in 2008. From uncertainty over the eventual status of Luhansteplovoz is said to have prevented the then owners Transmashholding from making further investments in the plant. Since the ruling the decision has been challenged by the State Property fund.
It was expected that the company would be attempted to be re-privatised included in the 2008 privatisation scheme, but instead the auction process started March 2010. Again analysts stated the starting price set by the Ukrainian government was once again surprisingly low at $50 million; while the company's stock market value was estimated at $127 million.