KAZAKHSTAN Railways (KTZ) has signed four agreements relating to the development of rail freight in the Middle Corridor totalling $US 462m. The individual values of the agreements, which were all signed at the end of June, have not been revealed.
KTZ Express, a subsidiary of KTZ, signed an agreement with Midia Marine Terminal to implement a joint project in the Romanian port of Midia which will allow Kazakhstan to gain its own base on the Black Sea, speeding up freight handling and seeking to eliminate bottlenecks on the route to Europe.
KTZ Express and AP Moller-Maersk signed two agreements. The first aims to increase container traffic along the Middle Corridor route. Under the agreement, Maersk will develop its own maritime services in the Black Sea, which, combined with KTZ's existing rail infrastructure, will enable the creation of end-to-end multimodal solutions and increase the speed of freight transport between Asia and Europe. The companies, which already cooperate on container shipping along this route, have also agreed to cooperate in the areas of knowledge exchange and personnel training.
KTZ and DHL Global Forwarding signed an agreement to combine KTZ's infrastructure with DHL's international expertise to improve end-to-end multimodal services and boost freight transport potential. KTZ is building its own maritime fleet and increasing the number of logistics warehouses on the border with China.
Finally, KTZ and DB Cargo Eurasia signed a memorandum of understanding to develop freight transport along the Middle Corridor including increasing capacity and reducing transit times between Europe and China.
