On 25 November JSC TransContainer and Cargo Slovakia (ZSSK Cargo) solemnly signed a 15-year lease agreement on the Dobra freightterminal. Among the participants in the signing ceremony were Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin, the General Director of TransContainer Petr Baskakov and representatives of Slovakia.

The Dobra terminal, located 10 km from the Ukrainian border, between the Pribenik and Czerna-nad-Tissou railway stations, has four narrow-gauge and four broad-gauge lines. According to Mr. Baskakov, the terminal has good potential for expansion, both within its own boundaries and on adjacent areas.

«The terminal can handle over 250,000 TEU a year, thanks to its convenient geographic location and infrastructure. To ensure efficient management of the terminal and further enhancement of its operational capacities, TransContainer together with Cargo Slovakia plan to set up a specialised subsidiary of TransContainer in the Republic of Slovakia, which is scheduled to begin its operations in the first quarter of the next year», said Petr Baskakov.»

The lease on the terminal is part of a TransContainer project to develop containerfreight transportation along international transport corridor No.5. The plan is for containers to be shipped by sea from the Asia-Pacific region to the ports of Koper and Trieste, where they will be moved by regular block-trains to the Dobra terminal. There, the containers will be transshipped from European-gauge platforms to 1520 mm platforms before being transported in block-trains to Russia and Ukraine (operator – JSC TransContainer). This set-up will cut 5,000 miles off the traditional sea route for container delivery, giving it a competitive advantage. We are confident that the Dobra terminal will become a reliable gateway for European freight, in the same way that Zaybakalsk acts as the railroad gateway into South Asia,” stated Mr. Baskakov.