RF President Vladimir Putin inaugurated via videocon a new grain storage and handling facility built in Zabaikalsky Kray in the Zabaikalie Territory of advanced development. Yury Trutnev, Vice Premier and Presidential Plenipotentiary to the Far Eastern Federal District, and Alexey Chekunkov, RF Minister for the development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, took part in the opening ceremony held as part of the Eastern Economic Forum in September.
The Zabaikalsk grain terminal is the largest grain logistics facility in Russia and the world’s first specialized full-cycle land-based grain terminal providing solutions for multi-gauge railway transportation, the reginal government said in a statement. The terminal is a state of the art highly productive railway facility providing separate storage and handling of grain cargoes with a high level of biosecurity.
The terminal is located at the Zabaikalsk-Manzhouli border crossing checkpoint on the border between Russia and China. The annual capacity is up to 8 mn tons. The terminal is expected to facilitate access for Russian grain producers, first and foremost those located in the Russian Far East and Siberia, to the Chinese market.
The terminal has two railway parks for Russian standard 1520 mm gauge and narrow gauge rolling stock capable of handling 71 Russian railcar and 84 Chinese railcars, a depot for six robotic terminal locomotives, and elevator for 80,000 tons of grains and pulses equipped with a transportation system.
The terminal worth made 9.5 bn rubles ($159.2 mn) is a key element of the New Russia – China land-based grain corridor project.
According to Karen Ovsepyan, Managing Director of Zabaikalsk Grain Terminal, the transit time for grain from any origin in the Urals, Siberia or the Russian Far East to any destination in China via the terminal will make two to three weeks compared to three months by sea.
However, the main advantages of the terminal are the entire transparency, separate storage of grains, and the high level of biosecurity, he said.
Photo: Zabaikalsk Kray Government press office