The representatives of the railway companies in Kazakhstan and Latvia plan to implement joint projects to increase the freight volume in the two countries.
The various meetings between the officials of the two countries have led to the application of measures aimed at increasing cooperation and freight volumes.
During a reunion at the beginning of 2012, the representatives of the two companies (KTZ and LDz) have agreed to stimulate the transport activity, a cooperation encouraged by official figures according to which the commercial activity between the two countries recorded a growth of 11% (in 2011) and determined the railway traffic growth. Moreover, for Kazakhstan, Latvia is an important element in the transit policies on exports to the Baltic Region.
Due to the special interest in railway transport and logistics, Kazakhstan Railways announced their intention of opening an office in Latvia, a measure that would contribute to the intensification of contacts and to the rapid resolution of railway communications problems. In addition, the two companies have signed a protocol on the organisation of container trains from China to Europe, via Kazakhstan and Latvia and the Latvian side has expressed its interest in developing the “Khorgos East Gate” project.
A year after establishing the measures, the freight volume carried between Kazakhstan and Latvia increased by 21% reaching 3.4 million tonnes, with export through Latvia increased by 28% and the volume of imports from Latvia to Kazakhstan increased by 60%.
Figures clearly show the necessity of developing new opportunities for increasing freight traffic. KTZ President Askar Mamin and Latvian President Andris Berzins agreed at the beginning of 2013 to implement projects aimed to boost freight volumes from Kazakh ports to Latvian ports and to attract investments to develop terminals in ports. “Latvia is very interested in attracting a higher volume of goods from Kazakhstan which could grow to 10-20% of the total volume of transit freight in Latvia. A possibility to consider in increasing cargo volumes between the two countries would be to allocate investments in the infrastructure of terminals in Latvian ports”, declared Berzins.
Freight transit volumes between the ports of the two countries have increased gradually between the two countries; for example, in 2011, the transit of freight from Kazakhstan increased by 3.4% and in 2012 by 4.1%. “We would want the Kazakh side to invest in the Latvian ports through which freight from Kazakhstan could be transported. For example, the port of Riga is important because it has a strategic geographical position”, declared LDz President Ugis Magonis. Railways play an important role in the transport of freight between the two countries and “the development of railway services will significantly facilitate economic cooperation”, said Latvian Ministry of Transport Aivis Ronis in February 2013 during a meeting with KTZ President. “We see Latvia as a potential destination for investments especially for the deve-lopment of railway transport because time in freight delivery is a key factor for customers and the time necessary for transport from China to Kazakhstan, Russia and Latvia and from here to the rest of Europe is three times shorter than by sea”, said Mamin.
The freight from Kazakhstan ranks 4th for LDz, only 4.1% (2.43 million tonnes) of the cargo volume of LDz Cargo in 2012 and the company plans to attract a much higher vo-lume of freight. Also, one of the traditional cooperation segments is the transit of grains from Kazakhstan to Europe via Latvia, said the President of the Grain Union, Nurlan Tleubayev. He declared that the volume of grains will be increased and will serve directly the port of Ventspils. Moreover, the authorities also consider increasing the transit of NATO freight on the east-west axis, as Kazakhstan supports Latvia in NATO transports.
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