The state-run enterprise “Moldova’s Railways” in 2022 managed to achieve good economic, operating and investment results. The volume of transported freight totaled 1.232 billion tonne/km, up about 84% on 2021. The turnover was almost 1.3 billion lei, which is twice more than a year before. The data were presented by the enterprise’s director Oleg Tofilat, IPN reports.

According to the director, in the first month of 2022, before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the company transported a record volume of freight. In January 2022 alone, the transported freight came to 95.68 million tone/km, while the monthly volume of freight in 2021 was between 25 and 87 million tonne/km.

A project to purchase 1,000 grain wagons that will be delivered until 2025 was initiated last year. The purchase is financed by a €65 million assistance loan from the Government of Poland.

The most important railway infrastructure project since the declaring of independence – the modernization of the Tighina-Basarabeasca-Giurgiulești railway segment on a distance of 233 km – was launched last May. The €113 million project is financed by the EBRD, EIB and the European Commission, while the works are executed by a firm based in Kazakhstan.

Oleg Tofilat noted that the company fully cleared the salary arrears and overdue taxes accumulated the previous years. The salary arrears totaled 150 million lei, while the overdue debts – 48 million lei. Also, the pays of the company’s employees were raised by 89%, from 4,050 lei to 7,654 lei.

The Basarabeasca-Berezino railway section started to be used last August and access was this way opened to Izmail - the Ukrainian port in the Danube Delta.

Last November, after a pause of 24 years, the Chisinau-Kiev international train route was restored. No international train route was active in 2021, while in 2022 there were available four such routes.