The railways of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova summed up the results of work in 2022 and agreed to expand cooperation for the next three years. The meeting between railway delegations took place in Kyiv. This was reported by the press service of Ukrzaliznytsia.
"Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the railway of Moldova has become an even more important partner for us. Our neighbors helped us export grain and imported the necessary diesel fuel. We strive to deepen relations and cooperation between our railways further," Oleksandr Kamyshin, Chairman of the Board of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia", said.
Starting from February 24, 2022, 397 thousand tons of Ukrainian grain were exported and 363.6 thousand tons of oil products were imported through the border crossings with Moldova by railway transport. In general, export indicators increased by 1.5 times to 1,247 thousand tons, and imports by 3 times to 492 thousand tons.
Also, at the beginning of November 2022, after a 24-year break, the movement of Ukrainian passenger trains on the international route Kyiv — Chisinau was resumed. "Currently, millions of our fellow citizens are forced to live in other countries. This encourages us to look for new routes. Thanks to this train, Ukrainians can reach the international airport in Chisinau to travel further to other countries. Over 10,000 passengers have already used it in three and a half months," Oleksandr Kamyshin said.
According to Oleh Tofilat, Director of State Enterprise "Railways of Moldova", in 2022 the first important steps were taken between Ukraine and Moldova to improve railway cooperation. "Already in August of last year, the infrastructure of the Berezyne-Basarabyaska district, which had not worked for a quarter of a century, was restored. Ukrainian railway workers helped us rebuild our part of this section during the works. Then the work was completed in record time - a little more than a month. Therefore, we plan to involve Ukrainian specialists in the repair of the country's railway infrastructure in the future. This will make it possible to increase the safety and speed of train movement," said Oleg Tofilat.
According to the meeting results, the parties agreed to deepen cooperation between the railways of the countries to increase the volume of cargo transportation, as well as to involve Ukrainian specialists in the repair and restoration of the railway infrastructure of Moldova.
