Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he expected the price of goods from Latin America to come down as he inaugurated Russia's first direct trans-Atlantic freight route on Monday.
"To the customer it also means, I hope, a halt in the increase of prices of products [from Latin America], including fruit, because the number of shipment days will be reduced, and the need for transshipment of goods in neighboring countries will be likewise eradicated," Putin said at the opening ceremony, which took place in St. Petersburg earlier in the day.
The ceremony was attended by Danish premier Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Ecuadorian Minister of Industries Xavier Abad Vicuna.
The ECUBEX service, run by Denmark's Maersk Line will run on a weekly basis and operate all year round with six newly built Ice-Classed container vessels with a maximum reefer capacity (600 plugs) and total nominal capacity of 2500 Twenty foot Equivalent Units (TEU = twenty foot long container).
It will call at: Guayaquil (Ecuador), Balboa (Panama), Rotterdam (Netherlands), St. Petersburg PLP (Russia), St. Petersburg FCT (Russia), Bremerhaven (Germany), Manzanillo (Panama), Balboa (Panama), Guayaquil (Ecuador).
The Maersk Line, one of the leading liner shipping companies in the world with a fleet of over 500 vessels, said in a statement on its website that the service "has been motivated by client demand for reliable and fast refrigerated transportation of fruits, especially bananas, from Ecuador to the Russian market."
"Furthermore, it will give Russian exporters a unique opportunity to develop trade connections between Russia and South America."
Rasmussen said earlier the service, which has seen investment of up to $45 million, would "symbolize a good potential of Danish companies on the Russian market."
ST. PETERSBURG, March 22 (RIA Novosti)
