Baltic Export, Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Latvia, Transport

Evgueni Slobine, Uldis Augulis, Chantal Poiret, Christian Zbylut, William le Clere at thepresentation of the joint venture EMMA. Riga, 29.03.2011.

GEFCO colleagues from different countries, as well as journalists from Europe and CIS countries, who were present at the press-conference, were welcomed by the French Ambassador in Latvia Chantal Poiret. Ms. Ambassador noted that the establishment of the second Latvian-French enterprise reflects the expansion of relations between countries in the context of EU and stimulates mutual growth of foreign trade which is still not too large.

Minister of Transport of Latvia Uldis Augulis emphasized the importance of transit sector for our country economy, especially noted the necessity to develop containerized shipping.

Director of GEFCO group in Central and Eastern Europe Christian Zbylut explained why the Eurasian MultiModal Allience (EMMA) was created.

SRR is a leader in the field of multimodal transportation from Kazakhstan to Latvia. GEFCO opens representative office in Kazakhstan (Almaty). Besides, GEFCO has advanced network in Europe and South America. Another fact in favour of alliance is rapid growth of trade volume between Kazakhstan and Europe.

„The joint venture EMMA will provide direct access to these new markets with shorter transit time and ideal infrastructure, both from Latvia and Kazakhstan and whole Central Asian region. Since Kazakhstan doesn’t have direct access to the ports (except for the Caspian Sea), the railroad is now the most optimal way to deliver cargo over long distances,” – said Mr. Zbylut.

GEFCO staff distribution by regions

New service is meant for companies exporting goods to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. EMMA offers two types of delivery: the first – containers can be delivered to any European port, and then to Latvia by truck or rail, second – before the shipping to Kazakhstan containers can be directly delivered to Latvia.

Offer can be interesting to the clients from North and South America, as Latvia due to its geographical situation is an ideal entry point for Kazakhstan. This is facilitated by the presence of ports in Latvia, united with Russia and Kazakhstan railway 1520, as well as membership in European Union.

It is planned that at the beginning trains will run between Latvia and Kazakhstan once a week. Then depending on market demand from 2 to 5 times.

President of GEFCO Yves Fargues, director of GEFCO in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Christian Zbylut and Chairman of the Board of SRR Evgueni Slobine at the presentation of the joint venture EMMA. Riga, 29.03.2011.

Chairman of the Board of SRR Evgueni Slobine described his company as a young and rapidly developing. SRR provides services for the mining and metallurgy industry in Kazakhstan.

Main operational products of the company – two container trains „Eurasia-1” and „Eurasia-2”, which in cooperation with Kazakhstan company „Transsystem” unite Riga free port with destinations in Central and South-Eastern Asia. Another product of SRR – train „Riga Express” plying on the route Riga – Moscow in cooperation with company „Logistic operator” (official operator of Russian Railways).

«We are especially proud of our new products „Eurasian Bridge” and „Eurasian Bridge West”, which allows as appropriate to extend cargo route to China, - said E. Slobine. Logistics comes from word logic. If it would be profitable to clients, it will be profitable for us”.

Company SRR operates a significant fleet of its own platforms and containers for carriage of goods by rail and sea, has container depot in the main ports and industrial zones in Europe, as well in China, in the cities Qingdao and Lianyngang. 

Creation of the joint venture with GEFCO is interesting because SRR mainly serves exporters and French company – enterprises that import their products, - explained E. Slobine. This ensures the carriage of goods in both directions by using advantageous Latvian corridor.

“New venture EMMA – is not only a win-win partnership for both companies but also an increase of Latvian transit in the field of container transportation. Joining of import and export flows will give a synergy effect to transport and logistics companies, as well to manufacturers, that will bring additional advantages to SRR and will flush the cargo traffic in Latvia”, - stressed E. Slobine. 

Arrival of Yves Fragues, the president of GEFCO group, to Riga, whose plane was delayed, attached importance to the event in Latvia. Nevertheless, the French Ambassador, employees of the company from different regions of the world and journalists had the opportunity to talk to him at a grand dinner on the subject of pleasant for everyone occasion. 

Photo by R. Koksharov