Topic: Sanctions

American components China cancels Belarusian freight locomotive order due to fear of sanctions

China is no longer supplying Belarusian Railways with 15 ordered locomotives. The locomotives contain American components that are not allowed to be exported to Belarus,…
Contraband on rail Poland and Lithuania fight Belarusian smuggling: ‘State-owned enterprises may also be involved’

Poland and Lithuania are fighting cigarette smuggling on freight trains coming from their neighbour Belarus. The former seems to encounter a growing number of attempts…
Sanctions Russian operator Globaltrans stops paying out regular international dividends

It seems that international investors in the Russian rail operator Globaltrans will no longer be getting their dividends. The company stops abiding by its dividend…
surplus or shortage? Wagon surplus the apple of discord between RZD and other market players

The Russian railway network appears to be under pressure due to a wagon surplus hindering operations. Russian Railways (RZD) claims that around 220.000 extra wagons…
Ice Silk Road How the Arctic Ocean can help Russian rail and bring it closer to China

On Friday 6 July, the first “Arctic Express” train departed from Russia’s Moscow region. Its destination: The northern port town of Arkhangelsk. The load, however,…
China - Europe traffic China, Belarus and Kazakhstan to build terminal on Belarusian-Polish border

China, Belarus and Kazakhstan intend to build a logistics terminal on the Belarusian-Polish border. The three countries signed a memorandum of intent consolidating their plans…
sanctions LTG Cargo deals with a rising number of attempts to evade sanctions

Attempts to circumvent Western sanctions on Russia and Belarus via rail through Lithuania grew exponentially between March and May. The Lithuanian national rail freight operator…
Estonian Operail to be auctioned off and privatised

Operail, the Estonian state-owned rail freight operator, is for sale. On 6 June, the government approved the imminent privatisation of the company. It has struggled…
Low freight volumes: Russian Railways loses up to 50 billion rubles

Freight volumes on the Russian rail network keep falling. Russian Railways (RZD) likely incurred a 50 billion ruble loss due to the decline over the…
Iran and India overcome key hurdle for Chabahar’s INSTC port operation

Iran and India have signed an agreement that will enable the purchase of cargo handling equipment for the port of Chabahar. The port, located in…
Russia approves 3,7 trillion ruble Far East rail modernisation

Russia has approved further modernisation works of railway infrastructure in its Far Eastern region. On the 50-year anniversary of the so-called Baikal-Amur line (BAM), the…
Interview The Middle Corridor remains too expensive as an alternative China-Europe route

The Middle Corridor, a multimodal China-Europe freight route through Central Asia, has garnered international interest as a potential alternative to transporting freight through Russia. Illustratively,…