Advance International has formed a new joint venture – Arrow Railway Forwarding – to market freight capacity and provide access to rolling stock throughout Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
With Russia’s rail services being deregulated and liberalised to create more healthy competition, Advance International is increasing its involvement in the provision of intermodal railfreight services, which commenced a few years ago when it established the Advantage Express Service to offer an intermodal rail operation between Almaty in Kazakhstan and the Georgian port of Poti.
Arrow Railway Forwarding, the company’s new joint venture, has been established at a time when freight on Russian Railways is enjoying a significant boost as Russian Railways (RZD) seeks to extend its role as land bridge for cargo moving between Asia and Europe via the countries of the CIS, whilst also announcing plans to refurbish more than 17,000 freight cars and nearly 800 locomotives this year.
The company has also gained exclusive rights to market RZD’s capacity in Azerbaijan and Georgia through RZD’s recently launched subsidiary, First Freight Company, which has announced that it will acquire more than 70,000 wagons by 2012.
Headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, Arrow Railway Forwarding is headed by Yordan Petrov, who was recently operations director at Bulgarian Railways (BDZ). Advance Bulgaria, the local arm of Istanbul-based freight forwarder Advance International, has a 50% shareholding of Arrow Railway Forwarding, while local commercial interests own the remainder.
According to Petrov, Arrow Railway Forwarding can move any type of cargo across the borders of any of the twelve countries within the CIS, as well as the three Baltic States, which are now part of the EU.
"We have access to more than 300,000 rail wagons of every type and can transport everything moved by rail – from wine to oil in tankers, bulk grain in silo wagons and bulk minerals in bottom-discharging wagons to automobiles in double-deck car carriers.”
Advance International will arrange appropriate documentation and Letters of Credit where required, with liability insurance cover and FIATA Bills of Lading from any origin outside and inside the CIS to any destination, especially in connection with shipments to and from Iran and Iraq via the company’s Astara Transit Terminal on the Azerbaijani and Iranian border.
“With crude oil prices hitting US$110 per barrel and showing no signs of falling in the medium-term, rail ticks all the right boxes for today’s environmentally-conscious shipper,” said Advance International president & CEO, Jawad Kamel. “Our Advantage Express rail freight service has become a viable and timely alternative to sea freight for breakbulk and container cargo moving between China, Kazakhstan and markets in Russia, the CIS and Europe. Our Astara Transit Terminal offers the most effective intermodal border gateway for the Iranian marketplace. Now, through Arrow Forwarding, we are opening up the entire railway network in Russia and the CIS to our customers.”
With Russia’s rail services being deregulated and liberalised to create more healthy competition, Advance International is increasing its involvement in the provision of intermodal railfreight services, which commenced a few years ago when it established the Advantage Express Service to offer an intermodal rail operation between Almaty in Kazakhstan and the Georgian port of Poti.
Arrow Railway Forwarding, the company’s new joint venture, has been established at a time when freight on Russian Railways is enjoying a significant boost as Russian Railways (RZD) seeks to extend its role as land bridge for cargo moving between Asia and Europe via the countries of the CIS, whilst also announcing plans to refurbish more than 17,000 freight cars and nearly 800 locomotives this year.
The company has also gained exclusive rights to market RZD’s capacity in Azerbaijan and Georgia through RZD’s recently launched subsidiary, First Freight Company, which has announced that it will acquire more than 70,000 wagons by 2012.
Headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, Arrow Railway Forwarding is headed by Yordan Petrov, who was recently operations director at Bulgarian Railways (BDZ). Advance Bulgaria, the local arm of Istanbul-based freight forwarder Advance International, has a 50% shareholding of Arrow Railway Forwarding, while local commercial interests own the remainder.
According to Petrov, Arrow Railway Forwarding can move any type of cargo across the borders of any of the twelve countries within the CIS, as well as the three Baltic States, which are now part of the EU.
"We have access to more than 300,000 rail wagons of every type and can transport everything moved by rail – from wine to oil in tankers, bulk grain in silo wagons and bulk minerals in bottom-discharging wagons to automobiles in double-deck car carriers.”
Advance International will arrange appropriate documentation and Letters of Credit where required, with liability insurance cover and FIATA Bills of Lading from any origin outside and inside the CIS to any destination, especially in connection with shipments to and from Iran and Iraq via the company’s Astara Transit Terminal on the Azerbaijani and Iranian border.
“With crude oil prices hitting US$110 per barrel and showing no signs of falling in the medium-term, rail ticks all the right boxes for today’s environmentally-conscious shipper,” said Advance International president & CEO, Jawad Kamel. “Our Advantage Express rail freight service has become a viable and timely alternative to sea freight for breakbulk and container cargo moving between China, Kazakhstan and markets in Russia, the CIS and Europe. Our Astara Transit Terminal offers the most effective intermodal border gateway for the Iranian marketplace. Now, through Arrow Forwarding, we are opening up the entire railway network in Russia and the CIS to our customers.”