OREANDA-NEWS. October 01, 2009. TransContainer and DB Schenker BTT (GmbH) signed a set of agreements on cooperation in organizing container transport between Europe and Russia during the 18th plenary session of the Coordinating Council on Transsiberian Transportation (CCTT), which opened in Munich (Germany), reported the press-centre of RZD.
 
The sides agreed to set up a container depot in Riga (Latvia), and to increase their shares of the transport and logistics services market in the field of chemical transportation.

The main goal of the companies’ cooperation is to improve the efficiency of container freight from Europe to Russia and vice versa. This will be made possible by the creation of the new depot in Latvia, which will provide access to containers and various types of flat wagon used by TransContainer. As a result, transport companies will no longer have to wait for empty flat wagons to be sent from Russia for loading, which will significantly reduce the time of freight delivery and reduce the cost of freight services.

Commenting on the agreement, Karl Nutzinger, board chairman of Schenker AG, said: "As this is the first case of cooperation between a German logistics company and a subsidiary of RZD in this region, we would like to achieve maximum results from this new experience in providing more attractive services to freight operators."

In line with the second agreement – on cooperation in organizing container transport of chemical cargo – the sides intend to propose intermodal transport solutions as alternatives to multimodal transport by road and sea. With this in view, the sides have pledged to provide rolling stock, machinery and equipment, to use their most advanced technology, and to share experience. The portfolio of services will also include additional work in terminal processing, storage services and customs documentation.

"The growth in the Russian chemicals industry has created substantial demand for logistical services with the use of rail transport", said Dr. Rudiger Grube, CEO of German national railway Deutsche Bahn. "We have signed a cooperation agreement with a trusted partner, TransContainer, and we are ready to intensively develop new areas of joint work with them."

Earlier, Boris Lapidus, senior vice president of RZD, which owns TransContainer, welcomed the joint efforts of European and Russian companies in improving the competitiveness of rail container transport. In his address, he touched on the issue of the decline in the volume of freight on the global transport market, and called for the Trans-Siberian network’s potential to be more effectively used to overcome this problem. Lapidus also reiterated that all concession tariffs applicable in 2008 will remain in place throughout 2009, despite the economic crisis.

"Measures of tariff regulation in container freight must improve its competitiveness, relative both to alternative forms of transport and to alternative routes", Boris Lapidus said at the 18th plenary session of the CCTT in Munich.

The CCTT is an international non-profit transport association, which focuses on improving the competitiveness of Trans-Siberian freight transit, as well as freight on the sea section of the Trans-Siberian route. Among the main themes of the 18th plenary session are the possibility of more efficiently using the Trans-Siberian route, including the issues of developing a Russian federal law "On Transit", and developing a directly applicable regulatory document to ensure the unhindered transport of freight on the Siberian route.