State company Russian Railways (RZD; RTS: RZHD), and the North Korean government have set up a joint venture to build a container terminal at the North Korean port of Rajin and modernize a rail line running from Rajin, RZD said according to Interfax.
The venture has made it possible to formalize property rights to facilities at the Rajin port, including quays.
The venture is registered in North Korea's Rason Special Economic Zone for a period of 49 years.
The Russian partner in the venture, RZD subsidiary RZD Trading House, owns 70% and the North Korean government 30% of its capital.
The Russian company is to be the investor under the project, called Khasan-Rajin Port.
The container terminal to be built by the venture would be able to handle up to 400,000 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers a year.
About 140 million euro is to be put into building the terminal and modernizing the Tumangang-Rajin railway.
On April 24, RZD President Vladimir Yakunin and North Korean Railways Minister Kim Yong-sam signed an agreement setting principles for a pilot project to modernize the section of the Trans-Korean Railway between the Russian border and Rajin and for building a container terminal at the Rajin port.