A situation when Latvia may commence cooperation with China in the field of carrying railway freight seems very close, said state joint-stock company Latvian Railway (LDz) Chairman of the Board Māris Kleinbergs in an interview.
He said in the last decade there was a lot of talk about the opportunity of carrying Chinese freight through Latvia and there have been many attempts to attract such freight.
«It seems we are rather close to the situation when something could start happening with cooperation with China,» said the manager of LDz.
This development is currently in the stage of development, however. Nevertheless, Kleinbergs hopes for good news.
A for the development of Russian freight in the future, he said it was clear ten years ago that sooner or later a moment would come when Russia would have developed its sea ports to the point of freight volumes sent through Latvia rapidly decreasing as a result. Latvia suffered this drop in 2019, 2020 and 201. However, it is unknown how Russia plans to develop its sea ports.
Kleinbergs also stressed that development opportunities of the Baltic Sea region are not infinite. This means that everything depends on supply and demand. He is positive about the situation, however.
«Of course it is clear we will not get back the freight volumes that were carried through Latvia in previous years,» said Kleinbergs, adding that LDz’s biggest partner at the moment is Russia, which provides 56% of freight.
According to him, considerable development is not expected here. However, the volumes provided to LDz by the cooperation with Russia will remain within current levels.
He also allows there could be a slight increase. At the very least this is provided by LDz’s business strategy.
«Nothing indicates an incoming drop. It is quite the otherwise – the capacity of Russian sea ports is more or less exhausted at this point. One other thing to consider is that Russia’s own products and products sent through Russia in transit are two different stories,» said Kleinbergs.
Read also: Expert: it would be a good idea for Latvia’s half-empty sea ports to take over Belaruskali freight
LDz’s financial data for 2021 are available as of yet. However, the concern’s turnover in nine months of 2021 was EUR 174.368 million, which is 0.1% less when compared to the same period of 2020. The company’s profits reached EUR 4.472 million as opposed to losses suffered in the nine months of 2020.
LDz is in charge of maintaining public use railway infrastructure and is the parent company of Latvian Railway concern. The concern also includes six subsidiaries: LatRailNet, LDz Cargo, LDz Infrastructure, LDz Rolling Stock Service, LDz Security, as well as LDz Logistics.
LDz chairman: Latvia may establish cooperation with China in railway freight
