UK hauliers backing the USSR
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• UK transport operators are backing a Government call for distribution aid for the USSR following a meeting with Agriculture Minister John Gummer.
Exel Logistics and P&O European Transport Services (POETS) say they will provide expertise and training to help the Soviet food industry to distribute its food properly — up to a third of produce simply rots at present because of the inefficient distribution network.
The move fol
lows a call by Labour leader Neil Kinnock for the West to offer distribution expert i se to prevent a winter famine in the USSR (CM 29 Aug 4 Sept).
It is not yet known if British trucks will be involved.
"Eastern Europe is a developing market which we hope to extend," says David Sewell, Exel's head of export affairs. "This is a way of building bridges."
Jim Paton, managing director of POETS, says: "We hope one day to have a trading operation in Russia."
He adds that the company already has established links in Eastern Europe.
Exel's contribution includes the training of 2,000 Russian distribution managers in the UK later this year. It will also help develop a "distribution centre of excellence" near Moscow; the UK Government is expected to fund part of the project.
Paton says that POETS has not been asked for specific help, but believes it may be called upon to advise on the distribution of bulk foods: "We have vast grain warehouses on the Rhine which are serviced by road, rail and waterway," he says.