Moldovan premier attended launch of goods transportation passage in southern-based port
Acting Prime Minister Vlad Filat visited on April 2, 2013 the Giurgiulesti International Free Port, the government’s communication and media relations department has reported.
Filat together with Vitalie Struna, the general director of the Calea Ferata din Moldova (CFM) state railway enterprise, Thomas Moser, the director general of the Danube Logistics Ltd company and representatives of the local public administration visited the Giurgiulesti International Free Port in a train on the Cahul - Giurgiulesti segment. The trip lasted about an hour, during which Filat was informed about the railway segment´s condition.
Filat said that he had decided to take the train in order to check the railway segment and to see what actions should be carried on in order to ensure its good functioning, as a lot of resources had been invested in this project.
At the Giurgiulesti port, Filat attended the official opening of the Black and the Baltic seas goods transportation passage of two types transport means (ships and trains), via the ZUBR (container transportation) regular train line.
On the spot, Filat attended a demonstration of the process of filling containers transported from China and which are due to be carried to Belarus, Ukraine, and other countries by train.
Filat congratulated on the occasion of the launch of the intermodal goods transport passage via the Giurgulesti container transfer point.
Filat stressed the importance of Moldova’s participation in such projects, which prove how two types of transport means (ships and trains) can cut transportation costs and attract flows of external transit, which have bypassed Moldova so far.
„Thus, we are making the best of the investments in the port´s infrastructure, as well as in the railway infrastructure in order to create value-added services for the whole southern region of Moldova,” Filat said.
Moser thanked the government for the support in achieving the project. Moser underscored that the project clearly increased Moldova’s regional importance.
In December 2012, the CFM and the Danube Logistics became the partners of the ZUBR regional project – a freight line meant to transport containers from the ports of the Black Sea to the ones of the Baltic Sea. Moldova’s inclusion in the ZUBR freight line become possible due to demands came from the part of Turkish transport companies, which were interested in using this service and due to an official visit to Turkey in November 2012. The action was also possible due to the efficient cooperation between the CFM and the Danube Logistics – Giurgiulesti company, which is also the port’s administrator. Thus, by establishing a new price for the joint train and ship services, which is competitive against other ways of goods transportation, it was possible to create a new product that complies with the market’s increasing demand. It is estimated that containers transported via the above mentioned new platform increased by about 3.5 fold, from 1.160 containers in 2012 to about 4.000 containers in 2013.
Also today, Filat visited the vegetal oils terminal within the Giurgiulesti port. The terminal was built and is presently managed by the Trans Bulk Logistics Ltd subsidiary company of the Trans Oil group in cooperation with the Danube Logistics company.
The deputy head of the Trans Oil group, Mihail Caraseni, specified that the terminal was operating since November 2011, having a storage capacity of 6.000 metric tons and could receive ships with a gross transport capacity of up to 10.000 tons. The terminal represents an example of efficient cooperation with a foreign investor. Thus, the total amount of investments made by the Trans Oil group in the Giurgiulesti port reached about 35 million dollars. Over 100.000 tons of sun flower and soya oil can be annually exported via the above mentioned terminal. The terminal´s exports’ turnover was over 5 million dollars between January – April 2013.
Adapted from: MOLDPRES