Latvian and Ukrainian ministers and industry leaders held a meeting at the Ministry of Transport earlier this week, which was also attended by SJSC “Latvijas dzelzceļš” Chairman of the Board Rinalds Pļavnieks. During the meeting, various issues important for strengthening the cooperation between the two countries were discussed, including SJSC “Latvijas dzelzceļš” opportunities to participate in maintenance and reconstruction of the Ukrainian railway infrastructure and rolling stock, and diverting Ukrainian cargos to Latvian ports using Latvian railway infrastructure.
During the meeting, Oleh Nemchinov, Minister of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers commented on the need to develop alternative routes for Ukrainian freight transport and said that Ukraine saw Latvia as a potential ally in the rail transport network and logistics chains, and in the rail industry in general. He also said he believed that Ukraine would soon be able to regain complete access to the Black Sea.
SJSC “Latvijas dzelzceļš” Chairman of the Board Rinalds Pļavnieks: “Latvia and Ukraine had established and were planning to expand cooperation in cargo transportation on the North-South Corridor, shipping cargos from Odessa to Latvian ports and further on to Scandinavia and other countries. These plans had to be altered due to the geopolitics and the connection between the 1,520-millimetre gauge railways of Kyiv and Riga via Belarus can no longer be used for these purposes. However, new freight routes have emerged through the territory of Poland which, although technologically more complicated, more time-consuming and with a relatively lower throughput capacity, offer a solution for transport of Ukrainian cargo by rail, and they need to be developed and used as extensively as possible.”
Participants in the meeting paid particular attention to readiness of SJSC “Latvijas dzelzceļš” to participate in maintenance and reconstruction of the Ukrainian railway industry, providing its services in all the key railway industry sectors, including in maintenance and reconstruction of railway infrastructure, installing signalling systems, repairs to rolling stock, and others.
SJSC “Latvijas dzelzceļš” Chairman of the Board Rinalds Pļavnieks: “Railway companies with locomotive fleets prefer the most effective locomotive repair options of the highest quality. “LDZ Ritošā Sastāva Serviss” Ltd. has already been using its know-how, skills and technical equipment to provide locomotive repair services not only in the Latvian market, but also for locomotives based in Ukraine, and in the current circumstances our subsidiary company is ready to resume overhauls and even modernization of locomotives based in Ukraine in order to ensure their functionality and extend their service life.”
During the meeting, representatives of Ukraine praised the experience, technical capabilities and capacity of LDz Group’s subsidiary “LDZ Ritošā Sastāva Serviss” Ltd. in this area. Furthermore, LDz Group company “LDZ Ritošā Sastāva Serviss” Ltd. already in 2021 received a certificate for provision of locomotive repair services to owners of locomotives based in Ukraine.