HELSINKI: September 29, 2016. Nurminen Logistics is to establish a joint venture with privately held Russian rail company Rustranscom to develop traffic between Finland and Russia following the deregulation of rail services between the two countries.

According to Nurminen the total value of the railway logistics market in Finland is €450 million, with services connecting Finland and Russia worth around €150 million.

The new company, NR Rail, will be the first of its kind in Finland and Nurminen said it will provide its own rail assets including locomotives, wagons, terminals, railway yards and forwarding services at border crossings in Imatra, Niirala and Vainikkala.

Rustranscom, with a total of 44,000 units including hoppers, timber flatcars, container flatcars, tank cars and gondolas, will provide Nurminen access to markets in Russia's eastern regions including China and CIS nations.

"Nurminen Logistics and Rustranscom are established industry operators, with both companies offering significant experience and expertise in their field," said NR chairman Olli Pohjanvirta. "With the creation of NR Rail, we will be able to enhance our operations on the eastern border. This offers a wealth of new opportunities for Finland's logistics industry," he continued.

Founded in 1886, publicly listed Nurminen operates forwarding, rail and value-added logistics services throughout Finland, Scandinavia and western parts of Russia.

"The aim is to start the locomotive business in the second half of 2017," said Marko Tuunainen, Nurminen president and CEO. "What we are setting out to do is to maintain our commitment to developing cost-effective and transparent logistics services to benefit Finnish import and export industries," he added.