Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy and Minister of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic Andrej Doležal signed a memorandum of cooperation within the Silk Road Economic Belt.
The press service of the Infrastructure Ministry said on Thursday that the document will contribute to creating conditions for the further development of multimodal transport in transfer between Asia and the EU through Ukraine and Slovakia, as well as for increasing the number of container block trains that will be used for combined freight transport; putting into practice the implementation of the project on the creation of multimodal logistics centers that will handle cargo on the Silk Road route, which will make it possible to form an appropriate bilateral working group and create a basis for negotiations with the Chinese side; developing a common approach to organizing the movement of container trains running between Asia and the EU through Ukraine and Slovakia.
“Both Ukraine and Slovakia are extremely interested in developing their transit potential and improving the processes of organizing the delivery of goods in containers from the EU countries to China and vice versa. In early September, we held consultations with the Slovak side to intensify cooperation in the development of the Silk Road through the territory of Ukraine and Slovakia. Today we are fixing them with the relevant memorandum,” the press service said, citing Vladyslav Krykliy.
The ministry said that the memorandum has been drawn up for an indefinite period and will enter into force on Thursday, September 24.
In addition, according to the ministry, during a meeting with the Slovak side, the Minister of Infrastructure confirmed the readiness to intensify the work of the Ukrainian and Slovak sides on the development of logistics terminals in Chop, Mukacheve and Košice and proposed a joint search for financial resources for the implementation of the Creation of Multimodal Logistics Center Between Ukraine and Slovakia Based on the Existing Terminal in Chop project.