MOSCOW, 1 April (BelTA) – The recent blockage of the Suez Canal for almost a week after grounding of a container ship Ever Given will not affect the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in any way, Member of the Board (Minister) for Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission Sergei Glazyev said at the online briefing on 1 April, BelTA has learned.
“This [the Suez Canal obstruction] will not affect the EAEU countries in any way, because this transit flow bypasses us,” said Sergei Glazyev. “Of course, this regrettable incident caused tangible damage to carriers and consumers who didn't get their goods,” he added.
According to the EEC minister, this incident demonstrated the importance of overland routes that cannot be affected by such situations, pirate attacks, etc. “Today we are developing trans-Eurasian routes and working to increase container traffic, first of all,” he recalled. “A lot of work has been done to eliminate bottlenecks in the railway transport system to facilitate container traffic, including from China to Europe,” the minister noted.
According to Sergei Glazyev, at present rail containers going from China to Europe reach the final destination in 10 days, and the average train speed is already 50 km/h. “True, in Poland the speed drops to 30 km/h. It means, now our European partners should deal with restrictions in the infrastructure,” he said.
“I am sure that this incident will become a powerful impetus for redirecting container flows from ships to trains. This year already we see a doubling of container rail traffic,” the EEC minister stressed.
