Trade Facilitation along the Silk Road

Mr. Cheltsov as General Delegate based in Moscow leads the IRU Permanent Delegation to Eurasia, to help the road transport industry meet the numerous challenges and opportunities arising in the region.

Highly experienced in transport and customs issues in Russia and in the CIS region, Mr. Cheltsov worked 12 years for TNT Express Worldwide (CIS) at various management levels, and most recently as Country Sales & Marketing Director.

Mr. Cheltsov has held the position of Chairman of the Customs and Transport Committee of the Association of European Businesses (AEB) in the Russian Federation since 2000, as well as that of Member of the Coordination Council for optimizing procedures for foreign trade and transit flows of the State Duma Transport Committee and Member of the Coordination Council of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.

Founded in Geneva in 1948, the IRU is a global industry federation of national Member Associations and Associate Members in over 100 countries across all five continents that today represents the interests of bus, coach, taxi and truck operators worldwide, from large fleets to individual owner-operators.

The IRU has long been striving to reopen the ancient Silk Road to trade by international road transport aiming at providing for every business including those in landlocked countries access to global market and improving land transport connectivity between Europe and Asia, focusing on the security and improved border crossing times resulting from TIR Convention (1975) and the Harmonization Convention (1982) usage, and, by so doing, to significantly contribute to achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals.