RZD expecting Japanese additional cargo, investments in logistics development in Russia
MOSCOW. Feb 29 (Interfax) - OJSC Russian Railways is expecting to attract additional cargo from Japanese companies and suggests that investors of this country invest funds in the development of the transport logistics infrastructure in Russia.
According to RZD's statement, transit cargo flow between the two states increased by almost nine-fold, to more than 0.5 million tonnes due to shipments to Japan, container transit by 17% to 2,400 TEU. In January, the volume of transport of large-tonnage containers on the railway between Russia and Japan amounted to almost 5,000 TEU, which is 7% more than in the same month of 2015.
"I hope that the positive dynamics will be maintained. We are interested in additional cargo volumes of Japanese companies coming to Russian railway infrastructure," RZD Oleg Belozerov said at the forum, Russia-Japan: Priorities of Business Cooperation on Monday in Tokyo, the executive was cited in the statement.
In addition, Belozerov said that the company is perfecting schemes for cargo supplies. In particular, a new service, Baikal Shuttle, was developed for the transportation of cargo from Japan and other Asian countries from the port of Yokohama to Moscow. It provides the opportunity to transport cargo with clearly observable frequency and an exact schedule "from door to door". The new product allows for decreasing the price gap of container cargo from Yokohama to Moscow, and also for decreasing delivery time from 42 days to 25 days, RZD said.
"We are interested in raising investments from Japan for the development of transport infrastructure, and especially in the Far East," Belozerov said. "We are suggesting that [they] invest in projects, which are aimed at the development of terminal and logistics infrastructure in places for the formation and concentration of cargo flows o international transport corridors," he said, stating that this particularly concerns the creation of transport frame hubs of Moscow - Severyanin and Lyublino.