Transmash - Bombardier talks

Talks between Canada's Bombardier and Russian trainmaker TransMash Holding on closer cooperation could drag on into 2009, Bombardier Chief Executive Laurent Beaudoin said in a German newspaper interview.

"Of course we hope the talks conclude in a positive way, but no one can say at the moment when and in which form this will come," he was quoted as telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview published on Thursday.

"At first we thought it could have worked out last year, then this year. Perhaps something will emerge only next year," he said, stressing the talks were not about a merger but instead sought ways to expand on two successful joint ventures.

Russian business daily Kommersant reported in November that the Canadian aerospace and transport technology group and Russian Railways would both buy stakes in TransMash.

Bombardier is the world's leading trainmaker and third-largest civil aircraft maker.

Source: Transportweekly