IPO of Kazakhstan Railways shifts to Q1 2027 - Kazakh Transport Ministry

ASTANA. May 19 (Interfax) - The IPO of Kazakhstan's national railway carrier, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ, Kazakhstan Railways), will be held in Q1 2027, Kazakh Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev said.

"KTZ was supposed to go public this year, but at this time it is not possible. Samruk-Kazyna is currently setting new deadlines. We think it will be in the first quarter of 2027," Sauranbayev said at a government press conference on Tuesday.

It was previously reported, citing the railway company's management, that KTZ planned to hold an IPO at the end of this year to repay debts. The company's nominal debt as of the end of April was estimated at 4.7 trillion tenge. More than half of the debt is in hard currency. Hong Kong was considered as one of the venues for the IPO.

KTZ is a transport and logistics holding company and the operator of Kazakhstan's main railway network. The sole shareholder of the company is the Samruk-Kazyna state fund.

The official exchange rate on May 19 is 467.58 tenge per $1.