Development of Mainline Electric Locomotive Engineering in Ukraine (on the Example of Diversification of Production Activity of OJSC «Lu-hanskteplovoz»)

The article attempts to investigate the economic preconditions for the formation of the main electric locomotive industry in Ukraine on the example of diversification of production activities of the State Holding Company «Luhanskteplovoz». It is determined that in the late 1980`s, in the absence of convertible currency for the import of traction rolling stock, Luhanskteplovoz received an order from the USSR Ministry of Railways for the development and production of electric freight and passenger locomotives of its own design. However, after 1991, due to the strategy of the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation to support the domestic market of main electric locomotives, and especially the lobbying of the renewed Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding the direction of investments to create a state monopoly corporation on the basis of low-power SPA «Dnipropetrovsk locomotive plant», diversification of production activities of OJSC «Luhanskteplovos» focused on a less promising direction of development of production of railcars for social purposes. It is argued that due to the low quality of products caused by the lack of sustainable funding and sound experience in the development of mainline equipment, the order of electric locomotives of SPC «Elektrovozobuduvannia» (SPA«DEVZ») was stopped. Instead, the localization and further development of industrial production at the facilities of HC «Luhanskteplovoz» of new generation freight electric locomotives, created on the basis of design and technological products of LLC «Novocherkassk electric locomotive plant», allowed the company in a short time to significantly increase the growth rate of production and expand cooperation with «Ukrzaliznytsia».