Russian, Hungarian and Austrian railway companies are setting up a logistics joint venture for China-Europe rail cargo. Hungarian-owned CER Cargo Holding SE, Russian-owned RZDL Europe Kft and the Hungarian subsidiary of Austrian-owned Rail Cargo Hungaria Zrt are signing a memorandum of understanding on setting up a JV in Budapest on Tuesday.

Administrative and operative operations for the establishment of the JV are underway and it is expected to start operation in the first half of 2022. The JV will focus on bringing imports from China to Europe and exports to markets in Asia, said the Budapest Times.

According to Mr. Mihaly Varga, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Hungary, the construction of new cargo hubs on Hungary’s eastern border and the upgrade work of rail line between Budapest and Belgrade will making Hungary a key player in the flow of trade of goods between Asia and Europe.

Besides Mr. Mihaly Vargo, the event was also attended by Vladimir Tokarev, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, Sergey Pavlov, First Deputy Director General of JSC Russian Railways and Laszlo Palkovics, Minister of Innovation and Technology of Hungary.

In the context of a sustainable growth in trade between China and Europe, the establishment of such an enterprise will create a competitive and reliable transit rail freight service for customers from China, the CIS countries and the EU.

The established joint venture will provide the freight forwarder-coordinator services for logistics in cargo transportation from the Chinese provinces through Russia and Hungary to the countries of Southern Europe, the Balkan countries and in the opposite direction, according to RDZL.

The work of the Russian Railways holding on the creation of the joint venture with Hungarian and Austrian partners is undertaken with the support of the Ministry of Transport of Russia and is one of the elements of the foreign business strategy of the Russian Railways holding.