The Moldovan Railways intends to become part of a new Iran-EU transit corridor. The leadership of the state-owned Moldovan Railways signed the relevant protocol at a meeting in Constanta, which was attended by representatives of railway and marine administrations of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania, and Moldova. The RZhD-Partner publication reported this, citing information from the Moldovan Railways.

Creation of a corridor Iran-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Black Sea-Romania-Moldova-EU was discussed at the meeting.

A feature of the new corridor is the use of the Giurgiulesti seaport, which provides Moldova’s only access to the shipping market.

This Moldovan seaport, which is located in the Danube delta, competes with Ukrainian delta ports, primarily those located in the neighborhood of the Reni seaport, which is losing cargo traffic. The Reni seaport’s cargo turnover reduced by more than 40% in the first quarter of 2016.

The Moldovan Railways intends to receive goods arriving by water through the corridor’s segment that connects the ports of Constanta (Romania) and Giurgiulesti. The Romanian port’s direct access to the Danube delta (river transshipment capacity) will be used. According to estimates by the Moldovan Railways, the new corridor with the participation of Moldova can reduce the period of transportation of Iranian goods to the European Union to two weeks.