Russian Railways retains membership in International Union of Railways

MOSCOW. July 8 (Interfax) - Russian Railways (RZD) has retained full membership of the Paris-based International Union of Railways (UIC).

The 100th session of the UIC General Assembly was held last week. The delegations of China, Iran and Mongolia and the railways of other countries supported RZD's continued work on all UIC bodies, and called the UIC leadership's proposal to suspend RZD's membership in the organization was unauthorized, RZD said in a statement.

RZD senior vice president Sergei Pavlov said the company has all grounds to continue to seek the preservation of its full mandate from UIC leadership.

"The politicization of a respected professional organization is unacceptable. Our position and actions in the organization have allows complied with the letter and spirit of the UIC charter," Pavlov was quoted as saying in the press release.

The UIC is one of the international organizations established in 1922 on the basis of French law and headquartered in Paris. RZD (formerly USSR Railways) was one of the founders of the organization, but due to the Second World War and the subsequent division of Europe into two blocs, USSR Railways' participation in the UIC ended.

At the 68th session of the UIC General Assembly in Montreal, Canada on June 12, 2006, UIC members unanimously approved RZD's accession to the organization as a full-fledged member.

RZD serves on three key UIC management bodies: the executive board, and the Asia-Pacific and European regional assemblies. The UIC was chaired by the head of RZD from 2013 to 2016.