Finnish railway operator VR Group sells its assets in Russia

Finnish state-owned railway operator VR Group has decided to sell its assets in Russia.

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VR Group is negotiating the sale or liquidation of its companies ContainerTrans Scandinavia (CTS, 50 percent owned by PJSC TransContainer), Freight One Scandinavia (FOS, 50 percent owned by PJSC Freight One) and the Russian subsidiary Finnlog, whose profile is leasing wagons and timber transportation between Finland and Russia.

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Topi Simola, acting managing director of VR Group, said the company estimates traffic will drop by about a third by the end of the summer. He added that all Russian cargo transportation serviced by the operator will stop no later than before the end of the year.

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On April 6, the Finnish transport company VR Transpoint decided to permanently stop freight traffic with Russia and the acceptance of trains from the country. For the first time, the organization announced the termination of cargo transportation with Russia on March 27, explaining this by sanctions from the UK against Russian Railways.