In advance of the expected imminent ratification of a bilateral agreement liberalising the market for cross-border rail freight between Finland and Russia, a logistics provider in Finland and a Russian transport company have announced the formation of NR Rail as a jointly-owned company to handle international rail freight.
The Finns said the end of Finland’s national operator’s monopoly on traffic with Russia would be a ‘significant’ change, as this accounts for around a third of the estimated €450m Finnish rail freight market.
The agreement between Finland and Russia would allow rail transport companies in the European Economic Area to operate cross-border services on the Finnish network. However it would not open the Russian domestic market to EU operators, or open the Finnish market to Russian operators.