KYIV. Aug 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Yuzhny and Illichivsk seaports as ‘the sea gates’ of the so-called New Silk Road are ready for cooperation with Chinese business.
The press service of the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said that Minister Volodymyr Omelyan gave the information at a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Du Wei on Thursday.
“Now we can offer rental of terminals, and next year when the concession law would be passed, we will be able to discuss a wider form of cooperation. We are to provide for a powerful and reliable route for delivery of goods from Europe to Asian countries bypassing Russia,” he said.
The minister invited the Chinese diplomat to take part in the Transport Week to be held in Odesa on September 8.
A first experimental cargo train was launched on January 15, 2016 on the New Silk Road by the Infrastructure Ministry jointly with Ukrzaliznytsia.
The dry run of the new container train via Ukraine-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan-China (across the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea) ended in the early hours of January 31, 2016, on the 16th day of the journey.
