OREANDA-NEWS. December 13, 2012. Alexander Saltanov, Vice President of Russian Railways, took part in the official opening of the Company’s representative office in France on 11 December 2012. The office is in the French capital Paris and was officially registered on 25 October 2012.

In his address, Alexander Saltanov noted that Russian Railways has close ties with French companies through its involvement in a significant number of joint projects. Saltanov said that the opening of a representative office would enhance the development of these ties and pointed out that Russia and France were exchanging experience in the construction of high-speed highways at the moment.

"A major example of our cooperation is the recently signed contract to acquire 75% of the company GEFCO, which will enable us to take logistics technology for the entire Eurasian route to a completely new level of development," said Alexander Saltanov.

During the official opening, Saltanov also said that the French company SNCF has been recognised as the best international partner of Russian Railways in 2012. Sophie Boissard, head of Business Strategy & Development at the SNCF Group, received a commemorative token.