Ukraine, Moldova and Romania rally rail infrastructure to expedite export

The railway operators of Ukraine, Moldova and Romania have agreed on the improvement of transportation in the direction of Reni – Giurgiulești – Galați Largă and in the return direction, reported the press service of the Railways of Moldova (Calea Ferată din Moldova).

The issue was discussed at a tripartite meeting in Chisinau at the end of last week.

The cooperation involves:

→ non-stop passage through Reni;
→ coordination of transported volumes within five days;
→ transfer of complete collective trains, 50–60 carriages, from Moldova to Romania and in the opposite direction;
→ three-way exchange of information about the movement of carriages and the daily processing capacity of the receiving terminals in Galați;
→ integration of receiving terminals in Galați to the Mesplan system.

The implementation of these measures will make it possible to triple the carrying capacity of the Giurgiulești – Galați crossing point, reduce the time it takes carriages to move between Moldova, Ukraine and Romania by 2-3 days and reduce transport costs.

In October, the government of Moldova ratified an agreement to attract funds from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the modernization of the 446-kilometer section of the railway from the north to the south of the country.

The EBRD will provide a loan in the amount of 23 million euros for the repair of the railway corridor within the framework of the "Solidarity Lanes" initiative.

Ukraine's state rail transport company Ukrzaliznytsia and Moldovan Railways signed a memorandum on May 31 on the restoration of the railway corridor, which is planned to be completed by the end of 2024.

In October 2023, Ukraine decided to open a checkpoint in Transnistria for trains.

On November 8, Ukraine ratified an agreement with Moldova on the construction of a bridge across the Dniester.