Ukrainian and Moldovan railways are planning to implement a project involving construction of a railway between Berezino and Bessarabka (Basarabeasca) and overhaul of the railway between Artsyz and Berezino. Agreement to this effect was reached during talks between the Odessa region’s Governor Mikheil Saakashvili, the acting General Director of the State Railway Administration (Ukrzaliznytsia), Oleksandr Zavhorodnyi, the head of the Odessa Railway, and the head of the Moldova Railways in Odessa on 20 October, the press service of Ukrzaliznytsia announced.
"It is a direct link from Moldova to the port of Odessa. The Berezino-Bessarabka (Basarabeasca) railway is very significant in terms of the ability to establish links with Moldova while bypassing Transnistria. After its restoration, this railway track will create additional convenience for efficient logistics in the area of freight transportation," said Zavhorodnyi.
The necessary conditions for implementation of the project are operation of at least six pairs of trains per day in accordance with the active legislations of Ukraine and Moldova, as well as its inclusion in the two railways’ financial plans for 2016. The participants in the project will also seek funds from investors. According to preliminary calculations, work on the project will begin in the summer of 2016.
In addition, the participants in the meeting agreed to initiate the opening of a joint international railway crossing in Berezino. This requires amendment of the border agreements signed by the two countries’ railway administrations.
According to Ukrzaliznytsia, about 20 kilometers of railway tracks on the territory of Ukraine (the Odessa railway) and nearly 1.5 kilometers on the territory of Moldova were dismantled in 1999 due to lack of freight traffic and the poor state of the tracks on the Berezino-Bessarabka (Basarabeasca) railway.
