Deutsche Bahn to help Ukrzaliznytsia to restore railway infrastructure

KYIV. Sept 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) and Deutsche Bahn (DB) at the international exhibition in Berlin on Tuesday signed a memorandum of support and cooperation in the field of international freight traffic, which provides for assistance in restoring the Ukrainian railway infrastructure.

According to the press service of Ukrzaliznytsia, the agreements also cover cooperation to expand railway freight corridors and their capacity, in particular, DB Cargo specialists will help develop and modernize freight corridors for transshipment between the wide and European routes.

Today it is possible to gain access to some large cargo hubs in the west of the Ukrainian railway network using freight cars of the European route. The option of using Ukrainian hopper cars is seen as a way to increase grain exports to the European Union, since these cars carry much larger volumes of grain than containers. In particular, DB Cargo’s Polish and Romanian subsidiaries are already using rail networks near the border to transport large amounts of grain.

"I am confident that the partnership between DB and Ukrzaliznytsia can bring significant benefits to both parties in expanding freight traffic and grain exports to Europe. DB’s professionalism, combined with the courage and motivation of UZ, will create a synergy that can offer Europe and Europeans new sustainability and more opportunities for the transfer of traffic to the railway," Board Chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Kamyshin said.

In turn, DB CEO Richard Lutz noted the importance of an efficient railway system during the restoration of Ukraine. According to him, DB and the entire European railway family are well aware of this fact and strongly support their Ukrainian colleagues.

DB will also continue assisting Ukrzaliznytsia in the development of corporate governance structures, which, among other things, are mandatory for Ukraine to receive financial assistance for recovery. In addition, the German company plans to provide UZ with spare parts and is considering the possibility of providing freight cars.

In July, at a meeting of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) held in Vienna, railway companies pledged to provide emergency assistance and called for sufficient funding for a recovery plan for Ukraine.

Ukrzaliznytsia is one of the most important railway companies in Eastern Europe: the length of tracks is 22,300 km, the company employs about 250,000 employees.