Kazakhstan to produce armored vehicles with South African company

The two sides will cooperate in building a production facility with a manufacturing capacity of 120 to 360 specialized military and non-military vehicles, according to a press release from the Kazakh Defense Ministry. The production facility is expected to start operation by 2015.

The project brings together National Company Kazakhstan Engineering, Kazakhsstan Engineering Distributino and South African-based Paramount Group. The three parties signed an agreement in November this year on the production of military vehicles and maintenance.

The Defense Ministry said Kazakhstan's domestic components will make up 50 percent of the project. The specialised vehicles due to be produced are of top quality and test runs had completed in Kazakhstan in mid-2013, Xinhua reports.
Paramount Group is a major private company in Africa specializing in defense and security innovation and delivering integrated solutions for defense, internal security and peacekeeping forces across the world.

National Company Kazakhstan Engineering, part of National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna, is in charge of controlling financial, industrial and technical activities of Kazakhstan's major military producers.