Moldova plans to reduce tariffs for railway transportation of Ukrainian agricultural products

Ukraine and Moldova are working on reducing the tariffs for railway transportation of Ukrainian agricultural products in the direction of the ports of Reni, Giurgiulesti and Galati, which will allow the Moldovan railway to significantly increase the volume of transit transportation. This issue was discussed during an online meeting between the Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine M. Solskyi and the head of the Ministry of Agriculture of Moldova V. Bol.

Such a step will not only increase the volume of transit of Ukrainian grain, but also relieve the logistics infrastructure of Romania, which plans to harvest a very good harvest this year.

We will remind that the relevant memorandum was signed by Ukrzaliznytsia and Moldovan Railways, and in the summer of 2022, the Berezino-Basarabyaska section in Odesa region, which connects Ukraine and Moldova, was reconstructed, which made it possible to send cargo to the Rhine through Moldova in transit.

Ukraine and Moldova have agreed on the abolition of customs and border control of railway cargo at the Reni station, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine reports. A protocol was signed on amendments to the intergovernmental agreement on railway operations, which provides for the simplification of control over rail transit of goods with points of departure or destination Ukraine or Moldova, or when the point of departure or destination is located on the territory of a third country, for example, Romania. Therefore, cargo will move between the Fricacei - Etulia and Reni - Giurgiulesti checkpoints without stopping.

Moldova believes that the new solutions will reduce road congestion and the cost of products, as well as seasonal traffic jams at the stations of Galati, Giurgiulesti, Reni, Etulia and Basarabiaska, which heat up the cost of logistics at the height of the season of harvesting and exporting agricultural products.

Non-stop traffic in both directions between the points "Fricacia - Etulia" and "Reni - Giurgiulesti" will allow speeding up traffic and increasing the volume of railway transportation, which will contribute to the development of the entire Danube port cluster. At the same time, Ukraine is working on the development of infrastructure in the ports of Reni and Izmail in order to increase the range of cargo.

Since March 22, Ukraine and Moldova have introduced joint control at the Basarabyaska checkpoint, and also agreed to restore 400 km of the Mogilev-Podilskyi - Valchynet - Oknitsa - Baltsi - Chisinau - Kainary railway corridor by 2024, which will create a convenient route for exporters to the port of Reni.

Ukraine has the necessary equipment and highly qualified personnel for fast and high-quality implementation of infrastructure projects of any level of complexity, according to the Railways of Moldova. The restoration of the corridor will increase the volume of transportation and the speed of train movement, and improve the quality of freight transportation.

The project will be financed by partners and international financial institutions, and 32 million euros will be transferred to Moldova, and then sent to Ukrzaliznytsia to restore the railway corridor.