Georgian Railway Hosts Annual CER Meeting

On June 20, Georgian Railway hosted the annual meeting of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) in Tbilisi.

CER usually holds such meetings twice a year in Brussels and in one European country. It is the first time that the meeting was held in non-EU member country – Georgia.

After signing the Association Agreement with the EU, Georgia has undertaken certain obligations and requirements, among them 8 rmake refernece to Georgian railway.

The forum, held in Tbilisi, is a great platform for establishing business relations with European Railway administrations.

The main aim of CER is to support the interests of its member railways and organizations within the EU. Its slogan is "The voice of European railways" and it is the Ombudsman of the railway in the European Union.

The annual meeting of the CER in Tbilisi was attended by European directors of European Union Railways.  The Chair of the meeting was the Executive Director of CER, Libor Lochman. Head of Transport Policy Department of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Ketevan Salukvadze and representatives of the Ministry of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration also attended the event.

Mamuka Bakhtadze, Director General of Georgian Railway, opened the forum and noted that the Georgian Railway has made significant progress in implementing the Association Agreement between Georgia and the European Union.

"Today, Georgian Railway is hosting a very important event. We are very proud of this, as this is the first time that the CER forum is being held outside the EU. This is an indication that we are part of the European family,” he said.

Libor Lochman positively assessed CER’s cooperation with Georgian railway.

"I am happy that I'm taking part in this event. Here I have the opportunity to talk with Georgian colleagues and discuss together not just internal issues but also issues that are in the interest of EU member states,” he stated.

By Thea Morrison