OREANDA-NEWS. The successful arrival of an experimental train via the new Silk Road has proven that Russia’s economic blockade of Ukraine’s transit has failed: "Our trading partners have clearly demonstrated their desire in collaboration with Ukraine to build a new transit route," stressed Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Tuesday, 2 February, during a meeting dedicated to the arrival of the pilot train along the route Ukraine-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan-China to its destination.

The Prime Minister noted that an initiative of Minister of Infrastructure Andrii Pivovarsky to construct a new way of delivery has yielded effect: "The fact is an experimental train departed Ilichivsk. There is also the second fact that it reached its destination for 15 days".

"We have done very hard and great work. As we are talking about the fact that we had to negotiate with five countries and at least six different operators. Each has its own tariff policy, each has their internal customs procedures and regulations. But we managed to reach accord and launched this experimental train to make Russia understand that the economic and transit blockade of Ukraine would fail. So, it has failed. Our trading partners have clearly demonstrated their desire in synergy with Ukraine to build a new transit route", stressed Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

He reminded that when Ukraine had started to implement the FTA with the European Union, the Russian Federation had introduced additional trade embargo against Ukraine: "Ukraine has responded with introducing countermeasures".

Apart from that, Russia banned the transit of Ukrainian goods through the territory of the Russian Federation: "This is transit which joined us with our partner countries – Kazakhstan, China, other countries where we earn hundreds of millions as a result of trade turnover".

He noted that Ukraine "is not going to wait for any concessions", so it had embarked on building an alternative path: "The fact that this train left Ilichivsk and reached the border of China means we have done everything right, thereby it's not just a clear signal but a clear way to unblock trade and transit blockade introduced by the Russian Federation", said Arseniy Yatsenyuk.