A Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation on development of intermodal rail transport in Ukraine and subsequently in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States was signed on July 30 in the presence of the Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Kryklyi, First Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Dmytro Abramovich, acting Board Chairman of the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) Ivan Yuryk, and a representative of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA).
The Ministry of Infrastructure announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
The memorandum provides for cooperation in several areas to improve the quality of intermodal rail transport services: simplification of administrative procedures to speed up trains and implementation of a number of measures to improve the efficiency of intermodal trains, harmonization of tariffs in accordance with international best practice, and ensuring improved distribution of operational and commercial risks.
As the CFTS portal reported earlier, HHLA, a German logistics and transport company that operates container terminals in the port of Hamburg, has invested in the creation of a railway container transport operator in Ukraine. The latter has already been registered as the Ukrainian Intermodal Company (UIC). The company was officially registered in Ukraine in January. It is 100% owned by HHLA (CTO and HHLA International). However, according to plans, HHLA will retain only 20-30% of its shares in the future and 50-60% will be owned by freight forwarding companies and shipping lines.
In order to develop the Ukrainian Intermodal Company, HHLA intends to invest in leasing or acquisition of rolling stock, as well as in terminals in the interior of the country. The company also intends to establish cooperation with Ukrzaliznytsia to create competitive working conditions on the rail services market.
