The past week has been loaded with news relating to Kazakhstan’s national rail operator, Kazakh Railways (KTZ) and its freight subsidiary, KTZ Express. The latter has seen considerable growth in its transport volumes and has launched a pilot route to the Antwerp port in Belgium. Most notable, however, is the news that KTZ plans to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Sources tell Bloomberg that KTZ may conduct the IPO already in May of this year. The rail operator is counting on one billion dollars in earnings from the sale of 25% of the company’s shares.
KTZ is reportedly considering entering not only the Kazakh stock market, but also international ones, such as LSE.
Kazakh Railways’ net debt amounted to some six billion dollars as of September 2025. The rail operator turned to consultants from Citigroup Inc., JPMorgen Chase & Co as well as Societe Generale in November 2025. They valued the company at ten billion dollars at least.
The earnings from the Initial Public Offering could at least in part go towards the elimination of KTZ’s debt, said the operator’s owner, investment fund Samruk-Kazyna.
On the edge of bankrupcy
Bloomberg’s reporting highlights that KTZ could be an attractive investment, considering the expectation of growing transit volumes in the coming years. Transit volumes for the first 11 months of last year increased to 27.9 million tons, compared to 27.5 million tons in 2024.
However, the Kazakh transport ministry had painted a different picture of KTZ a year and a half ago. KTZ was said to be on the edge of bankruptcy, transporting 73% of all freight below the cost price.
“The once self-sufficient company KTZ, for the reason of ineffective and conservative management, is on the edge of survival”, the transport minister at the time stated. “All lucrative services were transferred to private companies.” Kazakhstan floated the idea of privatising KTZ already in mid-2024.
Despite the rail operator’s troubled finances, Bloomberg may be right that there is cause for optimism. Subsidiary KTZ Express, which specialises in intermodal multimodal logistics, has reported impressive growth numbers for 2025.
KTZ Express: 2025 success
The volume of freight on the North–South corridor tripled, and volume on the China – Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan – Iran route quadrupled. Export container shipments increased by 43%, and imports tripled. For the TMTM (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route), exports saw a 71% increase, and transit volume grew by 15%. RailFreight.com has asked KTZ Express for nominal numbers, but the percentages indicate a clear positive trend for the company.
KTZ Express also celebrates the launch of several new services in 2025: A China-Afghanistan container service, a Kazakhstan-USA logistics cycle, a Chengdu (China)-Łódź (Poland) connection, Shanxi (China)-Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan-Belgium door-to-door deliveries.
To Antwerp with CMA CGM
On 18 February, KTZ Express also announced that it had conducted a pilot export shipment of broken rice via the Middle Corridor to the port of Antwerp in Belgium. This shipment was carried out ‘multimodally’, using rail infrastructure and shipping routes across the Caspian Sea and Black Sea.
“The logistics plan is based on the Kyzylorda – Aktau Port – Poti Port – Antwerp Port route, sequentially utilizing rail and sea transport. Sea transportation between the ports of Poti and Antwerp is carried out with the participation of the international shipping group CMA CGM Group”, the company specified.
Previously, KTZ Express organised freight shipments in this direction primarily overland via the Semiglavy Mar border crossing to Russia, followed by transit through Brest, Duisburg, and Antwerp.
The choice for the Middle Corridor route brings numerous benefits, however: shipping costs along the new route are lower than via the Northern Corridor, says KTZ Express, and have comparable transit times. The estimated transit time is approximately 30 days.