ASTANA (TCA) — On October 16, during the visit of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Finland, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) national railways company and Finland’s Koulova Innovation Oy (Kouvola city) and Nurminen Logistics Services signed an agreement on the development of container traffic, the press office of KTZ said.
The agreement aims to increase the volume of cargo transportation, the development of supply chains and services along the China-Finland route through Kazakhstan.
Sending a container train along the new regular route Helsinki (Finland) – Hefei (China) was timed to the visit of the Kazakh president to Finland. The planned volume of traffic on this route is up to 8 container trains per month.
Last year the first container train on the route Kouvola – Xian was sent. Thus, there is a growth in traffic on the market of Finland and Scandinavia with China in transit through Kazakhstan.
“Last year, more than 30 container trains were sent along the route China-Kazakhstan-Finland. Since the beginning of this year, 46 container trains have been sent on this route. By the end of the year, we expect an increase in cargo traffic. We have great potential for the joint realization of transportation potential between the countries of Asia and Finland,” said Kanat Alpysbayev, the head of KTZ.
In Helsinki, Alpysbayev met with the Director General of the railway company VR Group Jansson Rolf.
During the meeting, the parties exchanged information on the current state and prospects of cooperation in the transport and logistics field.
In 2017, 31 container trains (2496 TEU) were sent along the China-Kazakhstan-Finland route, and in the first 8 months of 2018, 46 container trains (3848 TEU) were sent.
Alpysbaev also held talks with the head of the company Koulova Innovation Oy, which produces pulp — the main cargo shipped to China through the territory of Kazakhstan.
