On 20 December, 30 40-foot containers with Isuzu car components will depart from the port of Vostochny for the Ulyanovsk III station (access railway to the UAZ plant). This is the first shipment under the long-term agreement between JSC TransContainer and JSC SeverStalAuto-Isuzu.

"We are providing this company with through transportation of car components from Japan in our own containers. The freight left the Japanese port of Yokohama on 10 December, passed through the port of Pusan (Korea), and arrived in the port of Vostochny on 17 December. Prior to the New Year holidays, the freight will arrive at the destination station. Thus, the transit time is 18 days," said TransContainer's General Director Peter Baskakov.

He added that starting next year this freight will be delivered to SeverStalAuto's plant in the Elabuga free economic zone by express container trains. "We plan to carry more than 4600 TEU in 2008 and more than 6000 TEU in 2009. However, the actual freight volumes may be higher than planned, and we are ready for such growth," said Peter Baskakov.

Peter Baskakov also said that in the first quarter of 2008 JSC TransContainer will open its own agency in Elabuga, which will assume full responsibility for all transport and logisticstasks of SeverStalAuto. "We have already been given the office space, and I think that the opening will take place no later than March. The agency will be handling not only the Isuzu project, but also the Fiat project, which we began in September," said Peter Baskakov.