Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Lithuania, Railways, Transport

Lithuanian Minister of Transport and Communication Rimantas Sinkevicius before meeting with Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim today said that the basis for concrete actions to develop the Viking project has been already established.

During the meeting, the ministers will consider two alternatives of extending the Viking route to Turkey: either developing maritime transportation routes between Turkey and Ukraine via the Black Sea or developing a land route between Turkey and Ukraine via Bulgaria and Romania. In the firts case, containers would be transported by train from Klaipeda (Lithuania) to Odessa (Ukraine), then from Odessa to samsung (Turkey) by ship and from Samsun to the southern part of Turkey by train. Another alternative of building a land route to Istanbul, bypassing the Black Sea, will be discussed as well because Bulgaria has become an official partner of the Viking project.

The Lithuanian and Turkish ministers today are expected to sign a memorandum on cooperation between Lithuania and Turkey, with a specific focus on the development of shuttle train Vikingas.