Mechel OAO, one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces signing an agreement on creating a pool system for transporting cargo with the Russia's leading intermodal container operator, JSC TransContainer. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 19th Moscow International Transport & Logistics Exhibition and Conference "TransRussia". According to the document, TransContainer will handle multimodal transportation of Mechel's cargo of various types in containers. The annual turnover of cargo will amount to over 5,000 twenty-foot container units. Currently TransContainer ensures monthly transportation of some 400-450 twenty-foot containers with Mechel's industrial facilities' cargo to the company's partners in Russia and abroad. "TransContainer considers Mechel Group a reliable partner. With the signing of this agreement, our cooperation will become systematic and, I imagine, long-term as well. The geography of our work covers not only Russia but also CIS member states and Asia Pacific countries. We have the requisite experience and resources to offer Mechel high-quality service in container transportation," TransContainer's Chief Executive Officer Petr Baskakov commented. "This new format of cooperation with JSC TransContainer will certainly enable us to streamline the Group's container transport system. Moreover, we will be able to improve the quality of logistics on our geographic routes for Mechel's enterprises, thus bringing down transport costs," Mecheltrans OOO's Managing Director Sergei Kulakov said.