Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Development of Communities and Territories Andrii Kashuba has held an online meeting with Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Vladimir Bolea. They discussed the resumption of passenger rail service between Odesa and Chișinău and the transit of Moldovan freight cars through Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
The conversation was joined by Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, the board chairman of the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia); Oleksandr Fedorenko, the head of the Railway Transport Department; Mircea Păscăluță, the state secretary at the Moldovan Ministry of Infrastructure; and Sergiu Kotelnik, the acting general director of the Moldovan Railways Company.
The Ukrainian side expressed its interest in developing international rail transport between the two countries, stressing the need to take into account safety and economic factors.
"We are confident that restoration of the Odesa-Chisinau train service will improve transport accessibility and strengthen economic ties between our countries. At the same time, we must take into account all security risks," Kashuba said.
The Ukrainian side also emphasized the need for a detailed analysis of the economic feasibility of restoring the railway service. In particular, the passenger traffic, the cost of using the infrastructure, and the possible transport tariffs should be assessed in order to make an informed decision on relaunching the route.
Another important topic of discussion was the resumption of transit of Moldovan freight cars through Ukraine. The Ukrainian side confirmed that there are no restrictions on their movement, adding that the temporary difficulties in the exchange of technical information were due to a major cyberattack on Ukrzaliznytsia’s information systems on 23 March 2025.
Both sides agreed to continue to work on all these issues and maintain close coordination to facilitate further development of rail links between Ukraine and Moldova.
