Ukrainian Anti-Monopoly Committee approves RZD Logistics to gain control over FELB
KYIV. May 28 (Interfax) - Ukraine's Anti-Monopoly Committee has approved RZD Logistics, a subsidiary of Russian Railways (RZD) , to gain control over Far East Land Bridge Ltd. (FELB), the committee said in a statement.
FELB is a forwarding company that handles rail container shipments through CIS countries between European countries (Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Germany) and the north-eastern provinces of China.
Previously, 10% stake in FELB was owned by another RZD subsidiary - OJSC TransContainer , which obtained after allocating a six-month loan to Far East Land Bridge. In 2012 shares were transferred to RZD Logistics, which announced its intentions of increasing its stake to 25%. At the same time, TransContainer said it would transfer FELB's debt of $22.5 million to RZD Logistics, which happened in mid-June of that year.
Around a year ago, RZD Logistics states its intentions to increase its stake in FELB to 50% by the end of 2013. The company said this will guarantee that FELB's debt in settled in 2013. Information on RZD Logistics' website shows that the company had already exercised an option to buy 15.1% of FELB, increasing its stake to 25.3%, by the middle of the year.
TransContainer has said that RZD Logistics must completely pay for FELB's $22.5 million debt in June 2016. "In July 2012, RZD Logistics and FELB signed an agreement to transfer the debt. As a result, Far East Land Bridge's debt was transferred to RZD Logistics and will be completely settled in accordance with the approved schedule," TransContainer said.