Finnish railway company VR suspends communication with Russian Railways
It was stated that VR Group wanted to show Ukraine and the Ukrainians its strong support in this shocking situation
HELSINKI, March 2. /TASS/. Finnish state-owned railway company VR has decided to refrain from communication with Russian Railways except for the cases of necessary communication, the traffic of Allegro trains between Russia and Finland is continuing so far, the VR Group said in a statement on its website.
"Lauri Sipponen, CEO of VR Group, has informed Oleg Belozorov, President and CEO of Russian Railways, of VR Group's decision to refrain from any communication other than the necessary communication with Russian Railways required for cross-border traffic. The decision stems from the Russian attack on Ukraine. This decision shall remain in force until further notice," the company said.
"VR Group wants to show Ukraine and the Ukrainians its strong support in this shocking situation," Sipponen said.
"As a state-owned company, we want to ensure that our nationals can have the opportunity to return home from Russia. Allegro train is almost the only outward connection for those Russians, who are leaving their home country. In addition, we would like to offer other EU and third-country nationals a connection out of Russia in the near future," Sipponen added.
"Passenger train traffic to and from Russia will continue until the authorities conclude otherwise. The continuation of traffic is a decision made by both the European Union and the Finnish government. VR Group, as a state-owned company, follows the policies of the authorities," the company stressed.
The company also reported that Ukrainian citizens will be able to travel on VR trains for free from March 2, upon presentation of a passport.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.
After that the US, the EU, the UK and a number of other states announced that they would impose sanctions against Russian legal entities and individuals.