Moscow: Shippers might have another option from the far East to Europe with news that Russian Railways is close to forming a jv with North Korea. It is anticipated that the new company will be established in April. Its founders will be one of Russian Railways' subsidiaries and the North Korean port of Rajin.
Negotiations were held between 10 and 19 March this year during a visit of a company delegation to North and South Korea. The project provides for the construction of a container terminal at the port of Rajin and the reconstruction of the rail stretch between Tumangan - Rajin.
This infrastructure will then be used for transit traffic from the Asia-Pacific region via the port of Rajin and on to the Trans-Siberian.
During the visit to South Korea, the Russian Railways' delegation also held consultations with representatives of the forwarding company RUCO Logistics on the establishment of a joint logistics company to attract investment to the project, expand the cargo base and develop intermodal container traffic.
There are plans to hold a working meeting in Moscow soon to consider the issues in more detail and agree on the founding documents of the future company.
South Korea and North Korea have recently established a rail link and many hope that this one day could allow cargoes from Busan to be sent by train all the way to Europe. [26/03/08]
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