Kazakhstan and Russia to join in grain transportation

KazTemirTrans and RusTransCom (RusAgroTrans) will establish a joint company for grain transportation, Kommersant writes. Director General of RusAgroTrans Konstantin Zassov told the newspaper that the talks on establishment of the joint venture were quite lengthily. “But today we have finally agreed to establish the joint venture with KazTemirTrans Kazakhstan state company. The main idea is that the agrarian seasons do not coincide in Kazakhstan and in Russia. This enables us to jointly use the fleet that can be relocated to the necessary areas,” Zassov said. Besides, he noted that Kazakhstan dispatchers were interested in export via Russian ports. According to Zassov, the company will be established gradually. “First, the parties will transfer several thousand grain hoppers to the joint venture on rental conditions. We will be able to try them out. Then the assets will be included into the company’s charter capital,” he said. Initially the company will involve 6 thousand wagons and their number will be increased to 8 thousand. The shares in the venture are distributed equally between Kazakhstan and Russia. “The joint venture will start working this season in Russia and Kazakhstan,” Zassov stressed. This development is very important for Kazakhstan because it is a landlocked country that depends on its neighbors - especially Russia - in transporting its bumper grain harvests to the sea. Lack of grain wagons and tariff agreements with Russia have long hampered Kazakhstan's grain transportation, especially in the heat of the seasons.