status in July 1999, it was given this status by decree of President Leonid Kuchma in November of that year, a move seen to be an election gift to Kharkiv Oblast. Malyshev joined as the leader of thirty-four companies to form an export consortium called Ukrainian Armored Vehicles. Malyshev has demonstrated main battle tanks to Turkey, Greece, and Malaysia, and has entered into a contract to supply engines for Chinese-made Al-Khalid tanks for Pakistan. In September 2000, a deal was signed to modernize Soviet-made tanks and armoured personnel carries for the United Arab Emirates. The Malyshev factory also manufactures parts for Bizon, a Polish producer of agricultural combines. In April 2009, the Malyshev Factory signed a contract to upgrade 29 T-64B [Т-64Б] tanks to T-64BM "Bulat" [Т-64БМ "Булат"] standard, for the Ukrainian Army for ₴200 million ($25.1 million). Ten upgraded tanks were delivered in 2010, and 19 planned to be delivered in 2011. The T-64B tanks being upgraded were originally produced at Kharkiv in 1980. In 2012 the Malyshev Factory had a sizable tank scrapping operation. Since the outbreak of the War in Donbass the factory’s main focus became supplying new and rehabilitated tanks to the Ukrainian Army. On 22 July 2014 the factory was used as a transfer point in returning the bodies from the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash to their home countries. Production Locomotives Locomotive production was performed from 1897 to 1969. Until the invasion of Soviet Union by Germany in 1941, the factory was producing steam locomotives which were produced on several factories of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. After the war and rebuilding of the factory in 1947, it produced diesel locomotives until 1969. 1897-1915 Russian locomotive class O (particularly Од and Ов) 1906-1916 Russian locomotive class Shch 1912-1919 Russian locomotive class S (about 9 were produced in the Ukrainian State in 1918-19) 1915-1917 Russian locomotive class E (possibly through 1935) 1924-1951 Russian locomotive class S (enforced) 1935-1941 Soviet locomotive class SO 1939-1941 Tender with water heating for SO18 1947-1950 TE1 (along with the Kharkov Elektrotyazhmash and the Moscow Dynamo) 1948-1955 TE2 (along with the Kharkov Elektrotyazhmash) 1953-1973 TE3 (along with the Kharkov Elektrotyazhmash, the Luhanskteplovoz and the Kolomna Factory) 1952-1952 TE4 (only one built as experimental, based on TE2) 1948-1948 TE5 (only two built as experimental, based on TE1) 1956-1964 TE7 (along with the Luhanskteplovoz, based on TE3) 1958-1997 TE10 (along with