Moldovan Railways state enterprise to be reorganized so that infrastructure and freight and passenger transport managed separately

Government is initiating the reorganization of the State Enterprise Moldovan Railways and is establishing the Joint Stock Company Moldovan Railways – Passengers and Freight, with fully state-owned capital.

“The railways have represented a heavy legacy, with enormous debts and staff not adjusted to current realities. Finally, after in recent years things postponed for decades have been done, Moldovan Railways has started to pay off its debts instead of continuously increasing them, as was the case before. A major objective is the separation of infrastructure from commercial services – the state will maintain the infrastructure, while the new joint stock company created for transport services will be responsible for transporting freight and passengers. I emphasize that the state will hold 100% of the capital of the new joint stock company,” Public Property Agency director Roman Cojuhari said.

The measure of separating infrastructure management from transport operations will allow for clear accounting of costs and revenues from rail transport, so that the state can properly assess economic performance.

At the same time, pressure on the public budget will be reduced, resources will be directed more efficiently towards socially important passenger transport, and investments in services will increase. Thus, separate management will allow improvements in service quality and travel times. In the medium term, costs will be managed more efficiently, helping to stabilize tariffs.

The reorganization does not mean privatization. The state remains the owner of the rail infrastructure – tracks, stations, land and installations – managed by the State Enterprise Moldovan Railways. The Joint Stock Company will manage the trains, carriages and transport activity for passengers and freight.