GOVERNMENT APPROVES THE 2018-2021 CONCEPT OF CFM RESTRUCTURING

The Government approved on Wednesday the concept of restructuring the Moldova’s national railroad for the period of 2018-2021 – both the transport branch and the National Railroad Company of Moldova (CFM).

According to the Cabinet of Ministers, the document was developed at the initiative of Prime Minister Pavel Filip and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for modernizing the railroad infrastructure and developing the enterprise for ensuring its financial stability and raising the attractiveness of railroad communication for national and international transporters.

The concept contains the analysis of the current situation in the railroad sector, problems that exist in this sphere and instruments on their resolving for creating functional and efficient railroad sector in accordance with the EU legislation. The document provides reorganizing of the state enterprise into three independent joint stock companies engaged in infrastructure, passengers and freight transportation.

Also, it is planned to found a Rairoad agency, a structure on investigating accidents, event on opening the Moldovan railroad market for new participants and attraction of new railroad operators.

Infotag’s dossier: The bill on railroad restructuring, adopted back in 2015, implies the buying of rolling stock and rehabilitation of railroad infrastructure. The EBRD and the European Investment Bank are ready to allocate 52.5 million euros of credits each, while the EU – a grant of 5 million for the project implementation. The first part of the contract implies buying of 11 diesel-electric locomotives for cargo and passenger transportation. A part of money is supposed to be used for capital repairing of problematic sections of the railroad, first of all Chisinau-Ungheni and Ungheni-Ocnita, which are a part of international corridors. According to specialists, the rehabilitation of Moldovan railroad infrastructure and rolling stock demands at least 400 million euros, not taking into account the costs for the road electrification.