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3 (35) September 2013

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Russia and Germany: Promising Mixture

Russia and Germany: Promising Mixture

Control of cargo transportation over such a large territory as Russia is hard. Especially for western logistics companies. They need not only to study the country’s infrastructure and all legal procedures, but also to understand the peculiarities of communication with clients and partners. Arkadius Grabietz, Managing Director of AKG Logistics, talks about what strategy is best to implement in this country.

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Companies are moving to Russia

– Mr Grabietz, could you please briefly tell us about your company?

– Our company is an expert with over five years experience in the field of logistics management and transportation to and from Russia, concentrating on the sea freight business by full container, groupage traffic, project management and cross trades. Since 2009, we offer a container depot service along the Rhine between Basle and Cologne. Our headquarters are located in Dormagen, Germany. I am founder and Managing Director. In 2013, we opened new branch in St Petersburg, Russia.

– Why did you choose Russia for your business and when did you come here?

– I have 20 years experience in the Russian market, and for the last five years I have worked under the roof of AKG Logistics here. We have always seen Russia as a new growing market and have been correct. Even though it was hit hard by the crisis in 2009, it has sustained its growth. The Russian Ministry of Economic Affairs predicts growth of 2.4 percent for 2013. Germany is the second most important trading partner behind only China. Many of our customers are located in Germany and bilateral trade is growing by 20 percent this year in comparison to 2012, with a volume of €50 billion.
Many western companies are moving to Russia, so new individual logistics processes, and Russian experts are needed on the route to and from Russia. Furthermore, the Russian Federation also is perfect for the use of open source. Open Source Software is on the rise in Russia and, for operating systems, server applications and desktop applications more and more open source projects are being put into use. We would like to maintain consistent control over the flow of goods along the supply chain for our global customer base through open source solutions. However, in the area of logistics open source applications are still rare. And this is despite the fact that in this area open source software solutions have immense potential. When we offer our customers such solutions, they benefit from speed, flexibility and affordable software of high quality in their logistics processes.

– What can you say about the present situation in the Russian logistics market?

– The most important export commodity remains oil at almost 55%. The main imports are machinery, chemicals, food, electronics and electrical engineering. As I said the Russian market has enormous growth potential. The requirements concerning transport management, and customs clearance are complex.
Lack of knowledge of the Russian certification system, the impact of World Trade Organisation membership (WTO) on Russia and the alliance of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus into a single economic union can lead to problems at border crossings and customs clearance. To avoid this, you need an experienced logistics provider who understands the current customs processes, evaluates them correctly and is professionally prepared. Last year, Russia joined the WTO, thus opening up many new markets. This has a positive effect on some of the customs: Especially German companies from the automotive and capital goods industry are, with the WTO accession, able to enjoy reductions in average import tariffs from ten percent to 7.8 percent as well as from simplified import regulations.

– What is the most important thing in your opinion to run a logistics department here in Russia? What strategy have you implemented to grow your business?

– Besides excellent knowledge of the complex infrastructure, bureaucracy, and customs clearance processes, good partnerships and knowledge of the culture are essential. We celebrate the relationship with our partners, customers, and friends over there and I myself travel to Russia on a regular basis. Language abilities are very important. Furthermore, our own branch in St Petersburg is a daily meeting point for my partners and friends, directly located at the sea port where most of our business runs through from customers we have in the whole world.

– What can you tell about the level of education of Russian employees?

– Most of the businesses in Russia are people-related, so if you want to extend your branch you have to get professional staff. It is quite easy to get good people in Russia who have a good education, but these are often people who are fresh from university without having any experience. However, we are giving these youngsters a chance to show their power and ambitions.
We educate them in three areas: customs, the English language, and Deep sea logistics. We always let our people develop in order to have the best staff.

Central and Eastern Areas are still problems

– What difficulties do you see in working here?

– With strong knowledge of the Russian customs and foreign trade laws and continuous compliance with the latest regulations, German companies can significantly reduce costs – whether in the transport of bulk goods such as wood, steel and sheet metal or in consumer products such as household goods, textiles and more. Furthermore, in the logistics planning stage a thorough knowledge of the infrastructure of Russia’s advantages is needed. The well-developed western part of the country does not pose any major challenges, but still the central and eastern part of Russia do, because it is barely accessible by transport and traffic routes. Russia is on its way to becoming an important hub between Europe and Asia, and for that the government needs a lot of money for traffic development.

– What can you say about the railway system in Russia?

– The railway network is 87,000 kilometers, together with the construction, extension and modernisation of railway stations still to be extended, of course parallel to the roads. This costs about €10 billion. Because of the heavy use of the railway from St Petersburg to Moscow, the transport of goods suffers on this route. The situation is exacerbated by the use of the bullet train “Sapsan”, which runs six times a day between the cities. So that freight capacities for transportation are available by 2018 a new high-speed railway will be built with high-tech high-speed trains – they can travel at 400 kilometers per hour. The Russian railway system is an environmentally friendly alternative, many customers of ours from Europe and China make greater use of sustainable multimodal transport.

– Do you face problems of trains being delayed for example?

– Actually, delay is not the problem, sometimes we are perceiving a lack of information flow, e. g. to specify exact time points from when the rail wagon will continue to move and, when it will arrive at the final destination. We know that when this happens, something is not in line with the documentation and/or customs processes. This is why, we use “e-solutions”, a bespoke software tool, which delivers exact times and gives excellent control over all process.

– Does your company conform to the green logistics policy while working in Russia?

– An important policy in our company is to become as green as possible all the time. We move most the cargo by road onto sea freight containers and rail wagons in order to keep the CO2 emissions as low as possible. European/western companies extensively focus on that. If we have to move the cargo by road we are looking for EURO 5 trucks at least.

– Does the present situation differ from what you expected to see in Russia? Are you satisfied with your work here?

– It is what we had expected. We had forecast further growth and we knew that it was a people-related business in Russia. Both were, have been and will always be the case. The “Russian soul” is not a relic of the romantic 19th century: community, friendship, and a sense of family cohesion are still alive today. Unfortunately, this is ignored by non-Russian business partners frequently. From the German perspective, the Slavic way of business relies on facts and figures. Whether top-heavy German or Russian soul - in the business world a promising mixture, where trading partners go to each other with respect and openness. For us it is clear that if we stay in close contact to our Russian friends and business partners – our customers do win with us.
Interviewed by Christina Alexandrova

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Companies are moving to Russia

– Mr Grabietz, could you please briefly tell us about your company?

– Our company is an expert with over five years experience in the field of logistics management and transportation to and from Russia, concentrating on the sea freight business by full container, groupage traffic, project management and cross trades. Since 2009, we offer a container depot service along the Rhine between Basle and Cologne. Our headquarters are located in Dormagen, Germany. I am founder and Managing Director. In 2013, we opened new branch in St Petersburg, Russia.

– Why did you choose Russia for your business and when did you come here?

– I have 20 years experience in the Russian market, and for the last five years I have worked under the roof of AKG Logistics here. We have always seen Russia as a new growing market and have been correct. Even though it was hit hard by the crisis in 2009, it has sustained its growth. The Russian Ministry of Economic Affairs predicts growth of 2.4 percent for 2013. Germany is the second most important trading partner behind only China. Many of our customers are located in Germany and bilateral trade is growing by 20 percent this year in comparison to 2012, with a volume of €50 billion.
Many western companies are moving to Russia, so new individual logistics processes, and Russian experts are needed on the route to and from Russia. Furthermore, the Russian Federation also is perfect for the use of open source. Open Source Software is on the rise in Russia and, for operating systems, server applications and desktop applications more and more open source projects are being put into use. We would like to maintain consistent control over the flow of goods along the supply chain for our global customer base through open source solutions. However, in the area of logistics open source applications are still rare. And this is despite the fact that in this area open source software solutions have immense potential. When we offer our customers such solutions, they benefit from speed, flexibility and affordable software of high quality in their logistics processes.

– What can you say about the present situation in the Russian logistics market?

– The most important export commodity remains oil at almost 55%. The main imports are machinery, chemicals, food, electronics and electrical engineering. As I said the Russian market has enormous growth potential. The requirements concerning transport management, and customs clearance are complex.
Lack of knowledge of the Russian certification system, the impact of World Trade Organisation membership (WTO) on Russia and the alliance of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus into a single economic union can lead to problems at border crossings and customs clearance. To avoid this, you need an experienced logistics provider who understands the current customs processes, evaluates them correctly and is professionally prepared. Last year, Russia joined the WTO, thus opening up many new markets. This has a positive effect on some of the customs: Especially German companies from the automotive and capital goods industry are, with the WTO accession, able to enjoy reductions in average import tariffs from ten percent to 7.8 percent as well as from simplified import regulations.

– What is the most important thing in your opinion to run a logistics department here in Russia? What strategy have you implemented to grow your business?

– Besides excellent knowledge of the complex infrastructure, bureaucracy, and customs clearance processes, good partnerships and knowledge of the culture are essential. We celebrate the relationship with our partners, customers, and friends over there and I myself travel to Russia on a regular basis. Language abilities are very important. Furthermore, our own branch in St Petersburg is a daily meeting point for my partners and friends, directly located at the sea port where most of our business runs through from customers we have in the whole world.

– What can you tell about the level of education of Russian employees?

– Most of the businesses in Russia are people-related, so if you want to extend your branch you have to get professional staff. It is quite easy to get good people in Russia who have a good education, but these are often people who are fresh from university without having any experience. However, we are giving these youngsters a chance to show their power and ambitions.
We educate them in three areas: customs, the English language, and Deep sea logistics. We always let our people develop in order to have the best staff.

Central and Eastern Areas are still problems

– What difficulties do you see in working here?

– With strong knowledge of the Russian customs and foreign trade laws and continuous compliance with the latest regulations, German companies can significantly reduce costs – whether in the transport of bulk goods such as wood, steel and sheet metal or in consumer products such as household goods, textiles and more. Furthermore, in the logistics planning stage a thorough knowledge of the infrastructure of Russia’s advantages is needed. The well-developed western part of the country does not pose any major challenges, but still the central and eastern part of Russia do, because it is barely accessible by transport and traffic routes. Russia is on its way to becoming an important hub between Europe and Asia, and for that the government needs a lot of money for traffic development.

– What can you say about the railway system in Russia?

– The railway network is 87,000 kilometers, together with the construction, extension and modernisation of railway stations still to be extended, of course parallel to the roads. This costs about €10 billion. Because of the heavy use of the railway from St Petersburg to Moscow, the transport of goods suffers on this route. The situation is exacerbated by the use of the bullet train “Sapsan”, which runs six times a day between the cities. So that freight capacities for transportation are available by 2018 a new high-speed railway will be built with high-tech high-speed trains – they can travel at 400 kilometers per hour. The Russian railway system is an environmentally friendly alternative, many customers of ours from Europe and China make greater use of sustainable multimodal transport.

– Do you face problems of trains being delayed for example?

– Actually, delay is not the problem, sometimes we are perceiving a lack of information flow, e. g. to specify exact time points from when the rail wagon will continue to move and, when it will arrive at the final destination. We know that when this happens, something is not in line with the documentation and/or customs processes. This is why, we use “e-solutions”, a bespoke software tool, which delivers exact times and gives excellent control over all process.

– Does your company conform to the green logistics policy while working in Russia?

– An important policy in our company is to become as green as possible all the time. We move most the cargo by road onto sea freight containers and rail wagons in order to keep the CO2 emissions as low as possible. European/western companies extensively focus on that. If we have to move the cargo by road we are looking for EURO 5 trucks at least.

– Does the present situation differ from what you expected to see in Russia? Are you satisfied with your work here?

– It is what we had expected. We had forecast further growth and we knew that it was a people-related business in Russia. Both were, have been and will always be the case. The “Russian soul” is not a relic of the romantic 19th century: community, friendship, and a sense of family cohesion are still alive today. Unfortunately, this is ignored by non-Russian business partners frequently. From the German perspective, the Slavic way of business relies on facts and figures. Whether top-heavy German or Russian soul - in the business world a promising mixture, where trading partners go to each other with respect and openness. For us it is clear that if we stay in close contact to our Russian friends and business partners – our customers do win with us.
Interviewed by Christina Alexandrova

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Companies are moving to Russia

– Mr Grabietz, could you please briefly tell us about your company?

– Our company is an expert with over five years experience in the field of logistics management and transportation to and from Russia, concentrating on the sea freight business by full container, groupage traffic, project management and cross trades. Since 2009, we offer a container depot service along the Rhine between Basle and Cologne. Our headquarters are located in Dormagen, Germany. I am founder and Managing Director. In 2013, we opened new branch in St Petersburg, Russia.

– Why did you choose Russia for your business and when did you come here?

– I have 20 years experience in the Russian market, and for the last five years I have worked under the roof of AKG Logistics here. We have always seen Russia as a new growing market and have been correct. Even though it was hit hard by the crisis in 2009, it has sustained its growth. The Russian Ministry of Economic Affairs predicts growth of 2.4 percent for 2013. Germany is the second most important trading partner behind only China. Many of our customers are located in Germany and bilateral trade is growing by 20 percent this year in comparison to 2012, with a volume of €50 billion.
Many western companies are moving to Russia, so new individual logistics processes, and Russian experts are needed on the route to and from Russia. Furthermore, the Russian Federation also is perfect for the use of open source. Open Source Software is on the rise in Russia and, for operating systems, server applications and desktop applications more and more open source projects are being put into use. We would like to maintain consistent control over the flow of goods along the supply chain for our global customer base through open source solutions. However, in the area of logistics open source applications are still rare. And this is despite the fact that in this area open source software solutions have immense potential. When we offer our customers such solutions, they benefit from speed, flexibility and affordable software of high quality in their logistics processes.

– What can you say about the present situation in the Russian logistics market?

– The most important export commodity remains oil at almost 55%. The main imports are machinery, chemicals, food, electronics and electrical engineering. As I said the Russian market has enormous growth potential. The requirements concerning transport management, and customs clearance are complex.
Lack of knowledge of the Russian certification system, the impact of World Trade Organisation membership (WTO) on Russia and the alliance of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus into a single economic union can lead to problems at border crossings and customs clearance. To avoid this, you need an experienced logistics provider who understands the current customs processes, evaluates them correctly and is professionally prepared. Last year, Russia joined the WTO, thus opening up many new markets. This has a positive effect on some of the customs: Especially German companies from the automotive and capital goods industry are, with the WTO accession, able to enjoy reductions in average import tariffs from ten percent to 7.8 percent as well as from simplified import regulations.

– What is the most important thing in your opinion to run a logistics department here in Russia? What strategy have you implemented to grow your business?

– Besides excellent knowledge of the complex infrastructure, bureaucracy, and customs clearance processes, good partnerships and knowledge of the culture are essential. We celebrate the relationship with our partners, customers, and friends over there and I myself travel to Russia on a regular basis. Language abilities are very important. Furthermore, our own branch in St Petersburg is a daily meeting point for my partners and friends, directly located at the sea port where most of our business runs through from customers we have in the whole world.

– What can you tell about the level of education of Russian employees?

– Most of the businesses in Russia are people-related, so if you want to extend your branch you have to get professional staff. It is quite easy to get good people in Russia who have a good education, but these are often people who are fresh from university without having any experience. However, we are giving these youngsters a chance to show their power and ambitions.
We educate them in three areas: customs, the English language, and Deep sea logistics. We always let our people develop in order to have the best staff.

Central and Eastern Areas are still problems

– What difficulties do you see in working here?

– With strong knowledge of the Russian customs and foreign trade laws and continuous compliance with the latest regulations, German companies can significantly reduce costs – whether in the transport of bulk goods such as wood, steel and sheet metal or in consumer products such as household goods, textiles and more. Furthermore, in the logistics planning stage a thorough knowledge of the infrastructure of Russia’s advantages is needed. The well-developed western part of the country does not pose any major challenges, but still the central and eastern part of Russia do, because it is barely accessible by transport and traffic routes. Russia is on its way to becoming an important hub between Europe and Asia, and for that the government needs a lot of money for traffic development.

– What can you say about the railway system in Russia?

– The railway network is 87,000 kilometers, together with the construction, extension and modernisation of railway stations still to be extended, of course parallel to the roads. This costs about €10 billion. Because of the heavy use of the railway from St Petersburg to Moscow, the transport of goods suffers on this route. The situation is exacerbated by the use of the bullet train “Sapsan”, which runs six times a day between the cities. So that freight capacities for transportation are available by 2018 a new high-speed railway will be built with high-tech high-speed trains – they can travel at 400 kilometers per hour. The Russian railway system is an environmentally friendly alternative, many customers of ours from Europe and China make greater use of sustainable multimodal transport.

– Do you face problems of trains being delayed for example?

– Actually, delay is not the problem, sometimes we are perceiving a lack of information flow, e. g. to specify exact time points from when the rail wagon will continue to move and, when it will arrive at the final destination. We know that when this happens, something is not in line with the documentation and/or customs processes. This is why, we use “e-solutions”, a bespoke software tool, which delivers exact times and gives excellent control over all process.

– Does your company conform to the green logistics policy while working in Russia?

– An important policy in our company is to become as green as possible all the time. We move most the cargo by road onto sea freight containers and rail wagons in order to keep the CO2 emissions as low as possible. European/western companies extensively focus on that. If we have to move the cargo by road we are looking for EURO 5 trucks at least.

– Does the present situation differ from what you expected to see in Russia? Are you satisfied with your work here?

– It is what we had expected. We had forecast further growth and we knew that it was a people-related business in Russia. Both were, have been and will always be the case. The “Russian soul” is not a relic of the romantic 19th century: community, friendship, and a sense of family cohesion are still alive today. Unfortunately, this is ignored by non-Russian business partners frequently. From the German perspective, the Slavic way of business relies on facts and figures. Whether top-heavy German or Russian soul - in the business world a promising mixture, where trading partners go to each other with respect and openness. For us it is clear that if we stay in close contact to our Russian friends and business partners – our customers do win with us.
Interviewed by Christina Alexandrova

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Companies are moving to Russia

– Mr Grabietz, could you please briefly tell us about your company?

– Our company is an expert with over five years experience in the field of logistics management and transportation to and from Russia, concentrating on the sea freight business by full container, groupage traffic, project management and cross trades. Since 2009, we offer a container depot service along the Rhine between Basle and Cologne. Our headquarters are located in Dormagen, Germany. I am founder and Managing Director. In 2013, we opened new branch in St Petersburg, Russia.

– Why did you choose Russia for your business and when did you come here?

– I have 20 years experience in the Russian market, and for the last five years I have worked under the roof of AKG Logistics here. We have always seen Russia as a new growing market and have been correct. Even though it was hit hard by the crisis in 2009, it has sustained its growth. The Russian Ministry of Economic Affairs predicts growth of 2.4 percent for 2013. Germany is the second most important trading partner behind only China. Many of our customers are located in Germany and bilateral trade is growing by 20 percent this year in comparison to 2012, with a volume of €50 billion.
Many western companies are moving to Russia, so new individual logistics processes, and Russian experts are needed on the route to and from Russia. Furthermore, the Russian Federation also is perfect for the use of open source. Open Source Software is on the rise in Russia and, for operating systems, server applications and desktop applications more and more open source projects are being put into use. We would like to maintain consistent control over the flow of goods along the supply chain for our global customer base through open source solutions. However, in the area of logistics open source applications are still rare. And this is despite the fact that in this area open source software solutions have immense potential. When we offer our customers such solutions, they benefit from speed, flexibility and affordable software of high quality in their logistics processes.

– What can you say about the present situation in the Russian logistics market?

– The most important export commodity remains oil at almost 55%. The main imports are machinery, chemicals, food, electronics and electrical engineering. As I said the Russian market has enormous growth potential. The requirements concerning transport management, and customs clearance are complex.
Lack of knowledge of the Russian certification system, the impact of World Trade Organisation membership (WTO) on Russia and the alliance of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus into a single economic union can lead to problems at border crossings and customs clearance. To avoid this, you need an experienced logistics provider who understands the current customs processes, evaluates them correctly and is professionally prepared. Last year, Russia joined the WTO, thus opening up many new markets. This has a positive effect on some of the customs: Especially German companies from the automotive and capital goods industry are, with the WTO accession, able to enjoy reductions in average import tariffs from ten percent to 7.8 percent as well as from simplified import regulations.

– What is the most important thing in your opinion to run a logistics department here in Russia? What strategy have you implemented to grow your business?

– Besides excellent knowledge of the complex infrastructure, bureaucracy, and customs clearance processes, good partnerships and knowledge of the culture are essential. We celebrate the relationship with our partners, customers, and friends over there and I myself travel to Russia on a regular basis. Language abilities are very important. Furthermore, our own branch in St Petersburg is a daily meeting point for my partners and friends, directly located at the sea port where most of our business runs through from customers we have in the whole world.

– What can you tell about the level of education of Russian employees?

– Most of the businesses in Russia are people-related, so if you want to extend your branch you have to get professional staff. It is quite easy to get good people in Russia who have a good education, but these are often people who are fresh from university without having any experience. However, we are giving these youngsters a chance to show their power and ambitions.
We educate them in three areas: customs, the English language, and Deep sea logistics. We always let our people develop in order to have the best staff.

Central and Eastern Areas are still problems

– What difficulties do you see in working here?

– With strong knowledge of the Russian customs and foreign trade laws and continuous compliance with the latest regulations, German companies can significantly reduce costs – whether in the transport of bulk goods such as wood, steel and sheet metal or in consumer products such as household goods, textiles and more. Furthermore, in the logistics planning stage a thorough knowledge of the infrastructure of Russia’s advantages is needed. The well-developed western part of the country does not pose any major challenges, but still the central and eastern part of Russia do, because it is barely accessible by transport and traffic routes. Russia is on its way to becoming an important hub between Europe and Asia, and for that the government needs a lot of money for traffic development.

– What can you say about the railway system in Russia?

– The railway network is 87,000 kilometers, together with the construction, extension and modernisation of railway stations still to be extended, of course parallel to the roads. This costs about €10 billion. Because of the heavy use of the railway from St Petersburg to Moscow, the transport of goods suffers on this route. The situation is exacerbated by the use of the bullet train “Sapsan”, which runs six times a day between the cities. So that freight capacities for transportation are available by 2018 a new high-speed railway will be built with high-tech high-speed trains – they can travel at 400 kilometers per hour. The Russian railway system is an environmentally friendly alternative, many customers of ours from Europe and China make greater use of sustainable multimodal transport.

– Do you face problems of trains being delayed for example?

– Actually, delay is not the problem, sometimes we are perceiving a lack of information flow, e. g. to specify exact time points from when the rail wagon will continue to move and, when it will arrive at the final destination. We know that when this happens, something is not in line with the documentation and/or customs processes. This is why, we use “e-solutions”, a bespoke software tool, which delivers exact times and gives excellent control over all process.

– Does your company conform to the green logistics policy while working in Russia?

– An important policy in our company is to become as green as possible all the time. We move most the cargo by road onto sea freight containers and rail wagons in order to keep the CO2 emissions as low as possible. European/western companies extensively focus on that. If we have to move the cargo by road we are looking for EURO 5 trucks at least.

– Does the present situation differ from what you expected to see in Russia? Are you satisfied with your work here?

– It is what we had expected. We had forecast further growth and we knew that it was a people-related business in Russia. Both were, have been and will always be the case. The “Russian soul” is not a relic of the romantic 19th century: community, friendship, and a sense of family cohesion are still alive today. Unfortunately, this is ignored by non-Russian business partners frequently. From the German perspective, the Slavic way of business relies on facts and figures. Whether top-heavy German or Russian soul - in the business world a promising mixture, where trading partners go to each other with respect and openness. For us it is clear that if we stay in close contact to our Russian friends and business partners – our customers do win with us.
Interviewed by Christina Alexandrova

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Control of cargo transportation over such a large territory as Russia is hard. Especially for western logistics companies. They need not only to study the country’s infrastructure and all legal procedures, but also to understand the peculiarities of communication with clients and partners. Arkadius Grabietz, Managing Director of AKG Logistics, talks about what strategy is best to implement in this country.

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

Control of cargo transportation over such a large territory as Russia is hard. Especially for western logistics companies. They need not only to study the country’s infrastructure and all legal procedures, but also to understand the peculiarities of communication with clients and partners. Arkadius Grabietz, Managing Director of AKG Logistics, talks about what strategy is best to implement in this country.

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РЖД-Партнер

All Roads Lead to Rome; All Goods Are Transported to Moscow

All Roads Lead to Rome;  All Goods Are Transported to Moscow

The warehousing property market has been developing rapidly for the third straight year. There were record-breaking figures for the year 2012, and this year the growth rate persists. However it is still the Moscow region that accounts for the lion’s share of market growth. According to Knight Frank’s data, the total volume of warehouse acquisition in the Russian market in the first half of 2013 is around 780,000 square meters, about 70% of which (500,000 square meters) are in the Moscow region. The question then arises:
is there something that impedes the development of regional logistics centers or is there no need for them?

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Is Everything in Russia Stored in its Capital?

In the ex-USSR countries there was no retail in the modern sense. Ordinary people often would undertake transportation of goods – consumer goods – from Moscow (where they were concentrated) to other regions. Everything has changed since that time. But the warehouse logistics market has firmly rooted itself in the capital and, it seems, is not going to leave it.
Only 10% of all the deals made in Russia during the first 6 months of this year were in regional markets. At the same time there is a need for quality logistics centers in cities with populations of over 1 million people, which are situated along major Euro-Asian transport corridors.
Peter Zaritsky, Associate Director, Industrial and Warehousing Department, Jones Lang LaSalle, estimates demand for warehouses in Moscow in the first half of 2013 as 550,000 square meters, in St Petersburg - around 80,000 square meters. As for the other Russian regions, the amount of deals closed with the help of professional consultants was 61,000 square meters, according to his evaluations; of them Novosibirsk accounts for 42,000 square meters.
Viacheslav Kholopov of Director, Industrial, Warehouses and Land Department, Knight Frank, thinks that current rates for rent and purchase allow the prediction of the annual volume of warehouse acquisition in Moscow to be 1 million square meters. Peter Zaritsky gives a figure of 1.5 million square meters for the Moscow region.

Purchase or Rent?

According to specialists’ estimates, increases in customer tailored warehouse building designs leads to a greater share of the sales market.  “We expect that in 2013 sales deals will account for a third of annual demand,” P. Zaritsky says. In Russian regions however rent deals constitute 100% of the market. This is related to a high degree of uncertainty and scarcity of customer tailored designs.
According to the Knight Frank’s data, retailers dominated the Russian warehousing property market from the beginning of 2012 till the end of the first half of 2013: they account for 70% of the total volume of warehouse acquisitions. The interest of logistics companies is limited (1%) which is understandable as they have their own warehouses. A significant share belongs to distributors (20%). Manufacturers show small but steady demand (7%).
For comparison: The breakdown of warehouses in the Moscow region in the first half of 2013 is as follows: about 40% belongs to trading companies, 17% – to logistic companies, 10% – to manufacturing companies, 11% – to other types of companies: documents storage, transportation, shipping etc. The growth in the numbers of on-line trading companies is remarkable – about 20% of warehouses in the Moscow region were rented by them. Before 2012 they accounted for less than 3% of warehouse acquisitions. It is worth noting that in the first half of 2013 in contrast with the Moscow region there were no deals made in the regional markets.
Average rental rates quoted for high quality warehousing in the Moscow region are $135–140 for a square meter per year for A class warehouses and $115–117 for one square meter per year for B class warehouses. The average rental quote for A class warehouses in regional cities is $90–115 for one square meter per year (excluding VAT, operating expenses, and utility bills). This is about 20% less than in the Moscow region.

Will Stocks Be in Russian Regions?

At the present moment the warehousing property market in Russia is extremely centralised. “Most of cargo traffic passes through the Moscow region, and that is why a huge part of the high quality warehousing is situated here,” V. Kholopov says. P. Zaritsky gives the following data: the amount of quality warehousing in Moscow is 9 million square meters, and for example in St Petersburg – 1.87 million square meters. Any large regional logistic center is several times smaller than that of the capital – and in many such cities is below 1 million square meters.
Regional Russian cities have their own idiosyncrasies of economic development due to the geographic features and the administration policy at all levels.  On the whole, though, along with the population income increase the volume of consumption gradually grows. This in turn stimulates property developers to build and retailers to develop new facilities.
The conclusion is forced upon us that nowadays almost all the traffic, pertaining to warehouse logistics, is concentrated in Moscow, because those who consume the goods live there. Competition between retailers (main users of warehouses) takes place mostly in Moscow and the Moscow region.  The development of other Russian regions depends on many factors, including those that determine routes, intensity and volume of transportation. This is about the traffic capacity of highways and railways, quantity and quality of road infrastructure, competent regulation and management of transportation. The combined growth of these factors will lead to optimisation of cargo flows distribution between the country’s logistics hubs.
By Marina Ermolenko

viewpoint
Nikolai Bystrov,
Acting Head of Warehousing Operations at Baltika Breweries:

– Our branches are located in 10 cities in Russia. Each of the branches is provided with different types of warehouse – manufacturing, supply and sales warehouses for raw materials, inventory and end products. In case of excess production some branches use external storage. In large cities there is a possibility to choose a good quality logistics operator, in small cities it is difficult to make a choice, and sometimes there is no choice.
When looking for an external storage facility for end products our company focuses on quality of services, rendered by logistics operators: storage conditions, cargo handling and sometimes delivery services, availability of WMS accounting system, which allows viewing of the status of the cargo on-line. Rental cost matters. Infrastructure is also important: access to the storage facilities, proximity to convenient junctions and availability of free parking places for lorries in front of the entrance to the terminal and inside it. 24-hour operation of the facility is required as well.


Alexander Lisin,
Executive Director, Volga Logistics Association:

– Warehouse logistics in the regions is developing slowly. In general there is no acute shortage of storage facilities. The stratification between those consumers who opt for class A warehouses and those who opt for economy class (C) reminds us of the stratification in society and business. There is demand for inexpensive warehouses.
Local authorities, who need to showcase outstanding examples of land development, initiate the building of A class warehouses. For example, the tendencies of warehouse logistics development in the Volga region are related to expectations of major infrastructure projects in construction as well as the opening of new manufacturing facilities in the automotive and petrochemical industries.  
Economic growth is slowing down. At least the regional cargo traffic remains on the same level. The arrival of big network retailers does not affect much the current market of warehouse logistics. Experience has shown that big retail companies start their expansion in regions with the building of warehouses.  Certainly, there are exceptions, when retailers are in a hurry to make their mark but usually geographical expansion evolves systematically and in a balanced way.

Sergei Shavzis,
President of Urals Logistic Association:

– The main volume of cargo handling and storage in the region is concentrated around Yekaterinburg. According to the city administration there are around 1,3 million square meters of storage facilities in the city, including 650,000 square meters of class A and B+ warehouses not older than 2007. This year it is planned to launch 100,000 more square meters. The highest demand is for warm warehouses with the area of 2,000-5,000 square meters (class B+, A), which have a good access to federal highways.  During last two years there is a tendency of rental rate growth. At the same time there is a strong demand for warehouse rent rather than its purchase. 

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Is Everything in Russia Stored in its Capital?

In the ex-USSR countries there was no retail in the modern sense. Ordinary people often would undertake transportation of goods – consumer goods – from Moscow (where they were concentrated) to other regions. Everything has changed since that time. But the warehouse logistics market has firmly rooted itself in the capital and, it seems, is not going to leave it.
Only 10% of all the deals made in Russia during the first 6 months of this year were in regional markets. At the same time there is a need for quality logistics centers in cities with populations of over 1 million people, which are situated along major Euro-Asian transport corridors.
Peter Zaritsky, Associate Director, Industrial and Warehousing Department, Jones Lang LaSalle, estimates demand for warehouses in Moscow in the first half of 2013 as 550,000 square meters, in St Petersburg - around 80,000 square meters. As for the other Russian regions, the amount of deals closed with the help of professional consultants was 61,000 square meters, according to his evaluations; of them Novosibirsk accounts for 42,000 square meters.
Viacheslav Kholopov of Director, Industrial, Warehouses and Land Department, Knight Frank, thinks that current rates for rent and purchase allow the prediction of the annual volume of warehouse acquisition in Moscow to be 1 million square meters. Peter Zaritsky gives a figure of 1.5 million square meters for the Moscow region.

Purchase or Rent?

According to specialists’ estimates, increases in customer tailored warehouse building designs leads to a greater share of the sales market.  “We expect that in 2013 sales deals will account for a third of annual demand,” P. Zaritsky says. In Russian regions however rent deals constitute 100% of the market. This is related to a high degree of uncertainty and scarcity of customer tailored designs.
According to the Knight Frank’s data, retailers dominated the Russian warehousing property market from the beginning of 2012 till the end of the first half of 2013: they account for 70% of the total volume of warehouse acquisitions. The interest of logistics companies is limited (1%) which is understandable as they have their own warehouses. A significant share belongs to distributors (20%). Manufacturers show small but steady demand (7%).
For comparison: The breakdown of warehouses in the Moscow region in the first half of 2013 is as follows: about 40% belongs to trading companies, 17% – to logistic companies, 10% – to manufacturing companies, 11% – to other types of companies: documents storage, transportation, shipping etc. The growth in the numbers of on-line trading companies is remarkable – about 20% of warehouses in the Moscow region were rented by them. Before 2012 they accounted for less than 3% of warehouse acquisitions. It is worth noting that in the first half of 2013 in contrast with the Moscow region there were no deals made in the regional markets.
Average rental rates quoted for high quality warehousing in the Moscow region are $135–140 for a square meter per year for A class warehouses and $115–117 for one square meter per year for B class warehouses. The average rental quote for A class warehouses in regional cities is $90–115 for one square meter per year (excluding VAT, operating expenses, and utility bills). This is about 20% less than in the Moscow region.

Will Stocks Be in Russian Regions?

At the present moment the warehousing property market in Russia is extremely centralised. “Most of cargo traffic passes through the Moscow region, and that is why a huge part of the high quality warehousing is situated here,” V. Kholopov says. P. Zaritsky gives the following data: the amount of quality warehousing in Moscow is 9 million square meters, and for example in St Petersburg – 1.87 million square meters. Any large regional logistic center is several times smaller than that of the capital – and in many such cities is below 1 million square meters.
Regional Russian cities have their own idiosyncrasies of economic development due to the geographic features and the administration policy at all levels.  On the whole, though, along with the population income increase the volume of consumption gradually grows. This in turn stimulates property developers to build and retailers to develop new facilities.
The conclusion is forced upon us that nowadays almost all the traffic, pertaining to warehouse logistics, is concentrated in Moscow, because those who consume the goods live there. Competition between retailers (main users of warehouses) takes place mostly in Moscow and the Moscow region.  The development of other Russian regions depends on many factors, including those that determine routes, intensity and volume of transportation. This is about the traffic capacity of highways and railways, quantity and quality of road infrastructure, competent regulation and management of transportation. The combined growth of these factors will lead to optimisation of cargo flows distribution between the country’s logistics hubs.
By Marina Ermolenko

viewpoint
Nikolai Bystrov,
Acting Head of Warehousing Operations at Baltika Breweries:

– Our branches are located in 10 cities in Russia. Each of the branches is provided with different types of warehouse – manufacturing, supply and sales warehouses for raw materials, inventory and end products. In case of excess production some branches use external storage. In large cities there is a possibility to choose a good quality logistics operator, in small cities it is difficult to make a choice, and sometimes there is no choice.
When looking for an external storage facility for end products our company focuses on quality of services, rendered by logistics operators: storage conditions, cargo handling and sometimes delivery services, availability of WMS accounting system, which allows viewing of the status of the cargo on-line. Rental cost matters. Infrastructure is also important: access to the storage facilities, proximity to convenient junctions and availability of free parking places for lorries in front of the entrance to the terminal and inside it. 24-hour operation of the facility is required as well.


Alexander Lisin,
Executive Director, Volga Logistics Association:

– Warehouse logistics in the regions is developing slowly. In general there is no acute shortage of storage facilities. The stratification between those consumers who opt for class A warehouses and those who opt for economy class (C) reminds us of the stratification in society and business. There is demand for inexpensive warehouses.
Local authorities, who need to showcase outstanding examples of land development, initiate the building of A class warehouses. For example, the tendencies of warehouse logistics development in the Volga region are related to expectations of major infrastructure projects in construction as well as the opening of new manufacturing facilities in the automotive and petrochemical industries.  
Economic growth is slowing down. At least the regional cargo traffic remains on the same level. The arrival of big network retailers does not affect much the current market of warehouse logistics. Experience has shown that big retail companies start their expansion in regions with the building of warehouses.  Certainly, there are exceptions, when retailers are in a hurry to make their mark but usually geographical expansion evolves systematically and in a balanced way.

Sergei Shavzis,
President of Urals Logistic Association:

– The main volume of cargo handling and storage in the region is concentrated around Yekaterinburg. According to the city administration there are around 1,3 million square meters of storage facilities in the city, including 650,000 square meters of class A and B+ warehouses not older than 2007. This year it is planned to launch 100,000 more square meters. The highest demand is for warm warehouses with the area of 2,000-5,000 square meters (class B+, A), which have a good access to federal highways.  During last two years there is a tendency of rental rate growth. At the same time there is a strong demand for warehouse rent rather than its purchase. 

[DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [~DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

The warehousing property market has been developing rapidly for the third straight year. There were record-breaking figures for the year 2012, and this year the growth rate persists. However it is still the Moscow region that accounts for the lion’s share of market growth. According to Knight Frank’s data, the total volume of warehouse acquisition in the Russian market in the first half of 2013 is around 780,000 square meters, about 70% of which (500,000 square meters) are in the Moscow region. The question then arises:
is there something that impedes the development of regional logistics centers or is there no need for them?

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

The warehousing property market has been developing rapidly for the third straight year. There were record-breaking figures for the year 2012, and this year the growth rate persists. However it is still the Moscow region that accounts for the lion’s share of market growth. According to Knight Frank’s data, the total volume of warehouse acquisition in the Russian market in the first half of 2013 is around 780,000 square meters, about 70% of which (500,000 square meters) are in the Moscow region. The question then arises:
is there something that impedes the development of regional logistics centers or is there no need for them?

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Is Everything in Russia Stored in its Capital?

In the ex-USSR countries there was no retail in the modern sense. Ordinary people often would undertake transportation of goods – consumer goods – from Moscow (where they were concentrated) to other regions. Everything has changed since that time. But the warehouse logistics market has firmly rooted itself in the capital and, it seems, is not going to leave it.
Only 10% of all the deals made in Russia during the first 6 months of this year were in regional markets. At the same time there is a need for quality logistics centers in cities with populations of over 1 million people, which are situated along major Euro-Asian transport corridors.
Peter Zaritsky, Associate Director, Industrial and Warehousing Department, Jones Lang LaSalle, estimates demand for warehouses in Moscow in the first half of 2013 as 550,000 square meters, in St Petersburg - around 80,000 square meters. As for the other Russian regions, the amount of deals closed with the help of professional consultants was 61,000 square meters, according to his evaluations; of them Novosibirsk accounts for 42,000 square meters.
Viacheslav Kholopov of Director, Industrial, Warehouses and Land Department, Knight Frank, thinks that current rates for rent and purchase allow the prediction of the annual volume of warehouse acquisition in Moscow to be 1 million square meters. Peter Zaritsky gives a figure of 1.5 million square meters for the Moscow region.

Purchase or Rent?

According to specialists’ estimates, increases in customer tailored warehouse building designs leads to a greater share of the sales market.  “We expect that in 2013 sales deals will account for a third of annual demand,” P. Zaritsky says. In Russian regions however rent deals constitute 100% of the market. This is related to a high degree of uncertainty and scarcity of customer tailored designs.
According to the Knight Frank’s data, retailers dominated the Russian warehousing property market from the beginning of 2012 till the end of the first half of 2013: they account for 70% of the total volume of warehouse acquisitions. The interest of logistics companies is limited (1%) which is understandable as they have their own warehouses. A significant share belongs to distributors (20%). Manufacturers show small but steady demand (7%).
For comparison: The breakdown of warehouses in the Moscow region in the first half of 2013 is as follows: about 40% belongs to trading companies, 17% – to logistic companies, 10% – to manufacturing companies, 11% – to other types of companies: documents storage, transportation, shipping etc. The growth in the numbers of on-line trading companies is remarkable – about 20% of warehouses in the Moscow region were rented by them. Before 2012 they accounted for less than 3% of warehouse acquisitions. It is worth noting that in the first half of 2013 in contrast with the Moscow region there were no deals made in the regional markets.
Average rental rates quoted for high quality warehousing in the Moscow region are $135–140 for a square meter per year for A class warehouses and $115–117 for one square meter per year for B class warehouses. The average rental quote for A class warehouses in regional cities is $90–115 for one square meter per year (excluding VAT, operating expenses, and utility bills). This is about 20% less than in the Moscow region.

Will Stocks Be in Russian Regions?

At the present moment the warehousing property market in Russia is extremely centralised. “Most of cargo traffic passes through the Moscow region, and that is why a huge part of the high quality warehousing is situated here,” V. Kholopov says. P. Zaritsky gives the following data: the amount of quality warehousing in Moscow is 9 million square meters, and for example in St Petersburg – 1.87 million square meters. Any large regional logistic center is several times smaller than that of the capital – and in many such cities is below 1 million square meters.
Regional Russian cities have their own idiosyncrasies of economic development due to the geographic features and the administration policy at all levels.  On the whole, though, along with the population income increase the volume of consumption gradually grows. This in turn stimulates property developers to build and retailers to develop new facilities.
The conclusion is forced upon us that nowadays almost all the traffic, pertaining to warehouse logistics, is concentrated in Moscow, because those who consume the goods live there. Competition between retailers (main users of warehouses) takes place mostly in Moscow and the Moscow region.  The development of other Russian regions depends on many factors, including those that determine routes, intensity and volume of transportation. This is about the traffic capacity of highways and railways, quantity and quality of road infrastructure, competent regulation and management of transportation. The combined growth of these factors will lead to optimisation of cargo flows distribution between the country’s logistics hubs.
By Marina Ermolenko

viewpoint
Nikolai Bystrov,
Acting Head of Warehousing Operations at Baltika Breweries:

– Our branches are located in 10 cities in Russia. Each of the branches is provided with different types of warehouse – manufacturing, supply and sales warehouses for raw materials, inventory and end products. In case of excess production some branches use external storage. In large cities there is a possibility to choose a good quality logistics operator, in small cities it is difficult to make a choice, and sometimes there is no choice.
When looking for an external storage facility for end products our company focuses on quality of services, rendered by logistics operators: storage conditions, cargo handling and sometimes delivery services, availability of WMS accounting system, which allows viewing of the status of the cargo on-line. Rental cost matters. Infrastructure is also important: access to the storage facilities, proximity to convenient junctions and availability of free parking places for lorries in front of the entrance to the terminal and inside it. 24-hour operation of the facility is required as well.


Alexander Lisin,
Executive Director, Volga Logistics Association:

– Warehouse logistics in the regions is developing slowly. In general there is no acute shortage of storage facilities. The stratification between those consumers who opt for class A warehouses and those who opt for economy class (C) reminds us of the stratification in society and business. There is demand for inexpensive warehouses.
Local authorities, who need to showcase outstanding examples of land development, initiate the building of A class warehouses. For example, the tendencies of warehouse logistics development in the Volga region are related to expectations of major infrastructure projects in construction as well as the opening of new manufacturing facilities in the automotive and petrochemical industries.  
Economic growth is slowing down. At least the regional cargo traffic remains on the same level. The arrival of big network retailers does not affect much the current market of warehouse logistics. Experience has shown that big retail companies start their expansion in regions with the building of warehouses.  Certainly, there are exceptions, when retailers are in a hurry to make their mark but usually geographical expansion evolves systematically and in a balanced way.

Sergei Shavzis,
President of Urals Logistic Association:

– The main volume of cargo handling and storage in the region is concentrated around Yekaterinburg. According to the city administration there are around 1,3 million square meters of storage facilities in the city, including 650,000 square meters of class A and B+ warehouses not older than 2007. This year it is planned to launch 100,000 more square meters. The highest demand is for warm warehouses with the area of 2,000-5,000 square meters (class B+, A), which have a good access to federal highways.  During last two years there is a tendency of rental rate growth. At the same time there is a strong demand for warehouse rent rather than its purchase. 

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Is Everything in Russia Stored in its Capital?

In the ex-USSR countries there was no retail in the modern sense. Ordinary people often would undertake transportation of goods – consumer goods – from Moscow (where they were concentrated) to other regions. Everything has changed since that time. But the warehouse logistics market has firmly rooted itself in the capital and, it seems, is not going to leave it.
Only 10% of all the deals made in Russia during the first 6 months of this year were in regional markets. At the same time there is a need for quality logistics centers in cities with populations of over 1 million people, which are situated along major Euro-Asian transport corridors.
Peter Zaritsky, Associate Director, Industrial and Warehousing Department, Jones Lang LaSalle, estimates demand for warehouses in Moscow in the first half of 2013 as 550,000 square meters, in St Petersburg - around 80,000 square meters. As for the other Russian regions, the amount of deals closed with the help of professional consultants was 61,000 square meters, according to his evaluations; of them Novosibirsk accounts for 42,000 square meters.
Viacheslav Kholopov of Director, Industrial, Warehouses and Land Department, Knight Frank, thinks that current rates for rent and purchase allow the prediction of the annual volume of warehouse acquisition in Moscow to be 1 million square meters. Peter Zaritsky gives a figure of 1.5 million square meters for the Moscow region.

Purchase or Rent?

According to specialists’ estimates, increases in customer tailored warehouse building designs leads to a greater share of the sales market.  “We expect that in 2013 sales deals will account for a third of annual demand,” P. Zaritsky says. In Russian regions however rent deals constitute 100% of the market. This is related to a high degree of uncertainty and scarcity of customer tailored designs.
According to the Knight Frank’s data, retailers dominated the Russian warehousing property market from the beginning of 2012 till the end of the first half of 2013: they account for 70% of the total volume of warehouse acquisitions. The interest of logistics companies is limited (1%) which is understandable as they have their own warehouses. A significant share belongs to distributors (20%). Manufacturers show small but steady demand (7%).
For comparison: The breakdown of warehouses in the Moscow region in the first half of 2013 is as follows: about 40% belongs to trading companies, 17% – to logistic companies, 10% – to manufacturing companies, 11% – to other types of companies: documents storage, transportation, shipping etc. The growth in the numbers of on-line trading companies is remarkable – about 20% of warehouses in the Moscow region were rented by them. Before 2012 they accounted for less than 3% of warehouse acquisitions. It is worth noting that in the first half of 2013 in contrast with the Moscow region there were no deals made in the regional markets.
Average rental rates quoted for high quality warehousing in the Moscow region are $135–140 for a square meter per year for A class warehouses and $115–117 for one square meter per year for B class warehouses. The average rental quote for A class warehouses in regional cities is $90–115 for one square meter per year (excluding VAT, operating expenses, and utility bills). This is about 20% less than in the Moscow region.

Will Stocks Be in Russian Regions?

At the present moment the warehousing property market in Russia is extremely centralised. “Most of cargo traffic passes through the Moscow region, and that is why a huge part of the high quality warehousing is situated here,” V. Kholopov says. P. Zaritsky gives the following data: the amount of quality warehousing in Moscow is 9 million square meters, and for example in St Petersburg – 1.87 million square meters. Any large regional logistic center is several times smaller than that of the capital – and in many such cities is below 1 million square meters.
Regional Russian cities have their own idiosyncrasies of economic development due to the geographic features and the administration policy at all levels.  On the whole, though, along with the population income increase the volume of consumption gradually grows. This in turn stimulates property developers to build and retailers to develop new facilities.
The conclusion is forced upon us that nowadays almost all the traffic, pertaining to warehouse logistics, is concentrated in Moscow, because those who consume the goods live there. Competition between retailers (main users of warehouses) takes place mostly in Moscow and the Moscow region.  The development of other Russian regions depends on many factors, including those that determine routes, intensity and volume of transportation. This is about the traffic capacity of highways and railways, quantity and quality of road infrastructure, competent regulation and management of transportation. The combined growth of these factors will lead to optimisation of cargo flows distribution between the country’s logistics hubs.
By Marina Ermolenko

viewpoint
Nikolai Bystrov,
Acting Head of Warehousing Operations at Baltika Breweries:

– Our branches are located in 10 cities in Russia. Each of the branches is provided with different types of warehouse – manufacturing, supply and sales warehouses for raw materials, inventory and end products. In case of excess production some branches use external storage. In large cities there is a possibility to choose a good quality logistics operator, in small cities it is difficult to make a choice, and sometimes there is no choice.
When looking for an external storage facility for end products our company focuses on quality of services, rendered by logistics operators: storage conditions, cargo handling and sometimes delivery services, availability of WMS accounting system, which allows viewing of the status of the cargo on-line. Rental cost matters. Infrastructure is also important: access to the storage facilities, proximity to convenient junctions and availability of free parking places for lorries in front of the entrance to the terminal and inside it. 24-hour operation of the facility is required as well.


Alexander Lisin,
Executive Director, Volga Logistics Association:

– Warehouse logistics in the regions is developing slowly. In general there is no acute shortage of storage facilities. The stratification between those consumers who opt for class A warehouses and those who opt for economy class (C) reminds us of the stratification in society and business. There is demand for inexpensive warehouses.
Local authorities, who need to showcase outstanding examples of land development, initiate the building of A class warehouses. For example, the tendencies of warehouse logistics development in the Volga region are related to expectations of major infrastructure projects in construction as well as the opening of new manufacturing facilities in the automotive and petrochemical industries.  
Economic growth is slowing down. At least the regional cargo traffic remains on the same level. The arrival of big network retailers does not affect much the current market of warehouse logistics. Experience has shown that big retail companies start their expansion in regions with the building of warehouses.  Certainly, there are exceptions, when retailers are in a hurry to make their mark but usually geographical expansion evolves systematically and in a balanced way.

Sergei Shavzis,
President of Urals Logistic Association:

– The main volume of cargo handling and storage in the region is concentrated around Yekaterinburg. According to the city administration there are around 1,3 million square meters of storage facilities in the city, including 650,000 square meters of class A and B+ warehouses not older than 2007. This year it is planned to launch 100,000 more square meters. The highest demand is for warm warehouses with the area of 2,000-5,000 square meters (class B+, A), which have a good access to federal highways.  During last two years there is a tendency of rental rate growth. At the same time there is a strong demand for warehouse rent rather than its purchase. 

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The warehousing property market has been developing rapidly for the third straight year. There were record-breaking figures for the year 2012, and this year the growth rate persists. However it is still the Moscow region that accounts for the lion’s share of market growth. According to Knight Frank’s data, the total volume of warehouse acquisition in the Russian market in the first half of 2013 is around 780,000 square meters, about 70% of which (500,000 square meters) are in the Moscow region. The question then arises:
is there something that impedes the development of regional logistics centers or is there no need for them?

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

The warehousing property market has been developing rapidly for the third straight year. There were record-breaking figures for the year 2012, and this year the growth rate persists. However it is still the Moscow region that accounts for the lion’s share of market growth. According to Knight Frank’s data, the total volume of warehouse acquisition in the Russian market in the first half of 2013 is around 780,000 square meters, about 70% of which (500,000 square meters) are in the Moscow region. The question then arises:
is there something that impedes the development of regional logistics centers or is there no need for them?

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РЖД-Партнер

Company. Panorama

Tver Railcar Building Plant (TVZ, a part of Transmashholding) delivered the first double-decker train to Federal Passenger Company (FPC, a subsidiary of RZD).

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Tvz Plans To Make 50 Double-Decker Railcars Before The Year-End
Tver Railcar Building Plant (TVZ, a part of Transmashholding) delivered the first double-decker train to Federal Passenger Company (FPC, a subsidiary of RZD).
There are 15 carriages in the train: 12 compartment coaches, one staff car, one two-berth sleeper, and one dining car.
By the end of 2013, TVZ will manufacture 50 double-deckers for Russian Railways in total – three trains and a reserve.
The passenger capacity of the new sleeping car with 4-berth compartments is 64 berths, of the two-berth sleeper – 30 berths, of the staff carriage – 50 berths (including 2 specially fitted berths for one disabled passenger and an accompanying person).
All cars are manufactured with the use of energy-efficient technologies. The centralized power supply offers the possibility of reducing power consumption by 35-40%. As compared with conventional cars, the double-deckers provide for significant operational cost savings.
At present, TVZ proceeds working on development of double-deckers with seats. The first prototypes are expected to be built in 2015.

Caterpillar and Uralvagonzavod Plan to Launch JV to Assemble Locomotives in Russia

Caterpillar and Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) plan to launch a joint venture to assemble locomotives in Russia, says non-profit partnership Union of industries of Railway Equipment (NP UIRE).
Capacities of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Works (a part of UVZ) will be used for locomotive production.

Gazprom and Russian Railways to Convert Locomotives to Gas
Gazprom and Russian Railways recently signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the natural gas vehicle (NGV) sector.
The document is signed with the aim of using gas as a fuel for railroad applications. This will make it possible to reduce transportation costs due to the fuel used and to mitigate adverse environmental impacts.
The parties will jointly develop and implement programs for designing, testing and using gas–powered locomotives. A draft Federal Target Program on Natural Gas as a Motor Fuel for the Railway Rolling Stock between 2014 and 2020 will be prepared.
The number of gas-powered locomotives and their maintenance facilities will be gradually increased along with the development of NGV fuel production capacities and refueling infrastructure.

Transmashholding and Tognum to Set up Joint Diesel Engine Production in Kolomna
Transmashholding, the biggest Russian transport engineering company, and Tognum Group, a leading global manufacturer of diesel engines and complex propulsion systems have reached an agreement to set up a joint venture company for diesel engine production in the city of Kolomna, near Moscow.
The new plant is expected to produce up to a maximum of 1,000 engines per year for rail, mining and on-site power generation applications. It is intended to launch assembling, testing, painting, as well as aftersales services. Furthermore, Transmashholding and Tognum are to set up a joint engineering center for diesel engine development. The joint venture business will be run by a specially established legal party, MTU Transmashholding Diesel Technologies.
Investments in the project are expected to reach around 80 million euros.
The partner plant to finalize design documents for the new production facility by November 1, 2013 and kick off production by December 2015. 

United Wagon Company And Amsted Rail Sign Agreement On Railway Technology Cooperation
United Wagon Company (UWC) of Russia and Amsted Rail (AR) of the United States signed an agreement to cooperate in the area of railway equipment production.
According to the document, United Wagon Company will receive full intellectual property rights to AR’s Motion Control 18-9836 bogie design. This 25-ton per axle load bogie model has been specifically adapted by AR engineers for freight railcars operating on 1520 mm gauge tracks of Russia and other CIS countries. Amsted Rail will continue a direct license relationship with its existing Russian partners, while UWC will have the authority to issue new licenses to produce Motion Control bogie to other Russian and CIS manufacturers of railway rolling stock.
As part of their long-term cooperation, the parties also agreed to establish a joint venture for designing and manufacturing innovative components for freight railcars.

Sovcomflot Plans To Develop Civil Shipbuilding In Far East
The Russian maritime shipping company Sovcomflot is developing civil shipbuilding in the Far East, the company’s Director General Sergei Frank said.
“Over the past five years we have invested 22 billion roubles into Russia’s shipbuilding and we are very satisfied with this work. We have invested a similar sum into projects in coordination with the United Shipbuilding Corporation and its partners in joint ventures within the framework of technology transfer to Russia,” he said at his meeting with Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.
“Undoubtedly, our priority is to develop civil shipbuilding in the Far East in the future,” Mr Frank said. “We are guided by the United Shipbuilding Corporation which announced this plan as its priority.”
Frank said Sovcomflot had signed an agreement with Russia’s gas giant Gazprom to develop a fleet of gas tankers with a capacity of 170,000 cubic meters each that would be localised at the Zvezda Shipyard in the Primorsky Territory. “Gazprom provides us with good opportunities, our shipbuilders hope that they can develop this production by the end of 2017-2018,” he said.

Petrolesport Will Invest $1 billion In Its Development Project
Petrolesport OJSC, a part of Global Ports, needs to invest $1 billion in its development project, said Maxim Martyshov, the company’s Director for Development and Capital Construction.
It will take Petrolesport 10 years to carry out its development project in the Big Port of St Petersburg. According to M. Martyshov, the project envisages the reconstruction of production capacities in the port, and a switch from timber and metal scrap to containerised freight and ro-ro cargoes. The project, developed by LenmorNIIproject OJSC, covers the expansion of the mooring berth by 400 metres.
The company plans to begin to carry out this project in a year.

Uralvagonzavod Can Begin To Produce Railcars In Angola In 2016-2017
Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) has indicated an interest in establishing an assembly facility in Angola to build rolling stock for railways in southern Africa.
The investment needed for the project is about $100 million, and Vneshtorgbank (VTB) has announced that it can lend the sum. In the words of Yury Lyzhin, UVZ Director for Interaction with State Organisations, the production can be launched in 2016-2017, when Angola finalises the modernization of its railway network.
To carry out the project, UVZ is looking for local companies to act as a partner.

Rzd Bought 387 Locomotives In January-June 2013
In the first half of 2013, 387 new locomotives were delivered to the railway network of RZD. For that the company invested RUB 38.8 billion.
Among the acquired locomotives there are DC electric freight locomotives with asynchronous traction drive 2ES10 “Granite” (18 units), AC electric freight locomotives 2ES5K (4 units), DC electric freight 2ES6 “Sinara”(50 units), AC electric freight locomotives 3ES5K “Ermak” (67 units), DC electric freight locomotives 2ES4K “Donchak” (20 units), freight diesel locomotives with asynchronous traction drive 2TE25A “Vityaz” (5 units), freight diesel locomotives 2TE116U (44 units), and 2TE116UD with General Electric diesel (5 units). Also, RZD purchased 13 passenger dual-voltage electric locomotives EP20, 24 passenger DC electric locomotives EP2K, 20 passenger AC electric locomotives EP1 (M, P), and16 passenger diesel locomotives TEP70BS.
In addition, the company’s fleet of shunting locomotives has increased by 79 locomotives TEM18D, 9 locomotives of TEM18V model with a diesel engine made by Finnish company Wärtsilä, 9 locomotives TEM7A, and 4 locomotives TEM14 with dual-diesel power plant.

Rzd Is Going To Develop Flat Wagons For HsR
Russian Railways in cooperation with wagon producers are going to develop a fast container flat wagon for high-speed railways (HSR). Its speed will be up to 160 kph, said Valentin Gapanovich, Senior Vice President of RZD.
Currently, there are no special HSR in Russia. The first such project will be the Moscow – Kazan route. It is supposed that there will be both passenger and container trains travelling on the route.
“We are developing, and next year we will present a fast container flat wagon for 160 kph speed. When the HSR is built, the new flat wagon will fill the timetable, and the efficiency of the traffic will increase due to passenger and container transportation. Development works will be carried out by our Joint Center of Innovative Wagon Building, which was launched by Tatravagonka, Transmashholding, and RZD,” V. Gapanovich said

Final Pool of Investors in Ust-Luga Port Will Be Formed In 2014
The final pool of investors into the Ust-Luga port of the Leningrad region, will be formed in 2014, said Valery Izrailit, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the port.
“We hope that the pool of investors will be completely formed next year,” noted V. Izrailit. In his words, one large company is now developing the justification of investments for the construction of a grain terminal, and another company – for bulked cargo terminal.
According to forecasts, the port’s turnover will amount to 66-67 million tons in 2013, thus, the port will be number 2 in Russia according to throughput. Mr Izrailit specified that the port’s throughput will continue to grow. “In 2014 the port’s throughput will increase for sure. Throughput grows in all ports of Russia. We are above the market average figures according to the throughput. The average market growth is 4-5%, and ours is 50%. I am not sure that we can maintain such high rates, but our growth will be above the market average anyway,” stated V. Izrailit.

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Tvz Plans To Make 50 Double-Decker Railcars Before The Year-End
Tver Railcar Building Plant (TVZ, a part of Transmashholding) delivered the first double-decker train to Federal Passenger Company (FPC, a subsidiary of RZD).
There are 15 carriages in the train: 12 compartment coaches, one staff car, one two-berth sleeper, and one dining car.
By the end of 2013, TVZ will manufacture 50 double-deckers for Russian Railways in total – three trains and a reserve.
The passenger capacity of the new sleeping car with 4-berth compartments is 64 berths, of the two-berth sleeper – 30 berths, of the staff carriage – 50 berths (including 2 specially fitted berths for one disabled passenger and an accompanying person).
All cars are manufactured with the use of energy-efficient technologies. The centralized power supply offers the possibility of reducing power consumption by 35-40%. As compared with conventional cars, the double-deckers provide for significant operational cost savings.
At present, TVZ proceeds working on development of double-deckers with seats. The first prototypes are expected to be built in 2015.

Caterpillar and Uralvagonzavod Plan to Launch JV to Assemble Locomotives in Russia

Caterpillar and Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) plan to launch a joint venture to assemble locomotives in Russia, says non-profit partnership Union of industries of Railway Equipment (NP UIRE).
Capacities of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Works (a part of UVZ) will be used for locomotive production.

Gazprom and Russian Railways to Convert Locomotives to Gas
Gazprom and Russian Railways recently signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the natural gas vehicle (NGV) sector.
The document is signed with the aim of using gas as a fuel for railroad applications. This will make it possible to reduce transportation costs due to the fuel used and to mitigate adverse environmental impacts.
The parties will jointly develop and implement programs for designing, testing and using gas–powered locomotives. A draft Federal Target Program on Natural Gas as a Motor Fuel for the Railway Rolling Stock between 2014 and 2020 will be prepared.
The number of gas-powered locomotives and their maintenance facilities will be gradually increased along with the development of NGV fuel production capacities and refueling infrastructure.

Transmashholding and Tognum to Set up Joint Diesel Engine Production in Kolomna
Transmashholding, the biggest Russian transport engineering company, and Tognum Group, a leading global manufacturer of diesel engines and complex propulsion systems have reached an agreement to set up a joint venture company for diesel engine production in the city of Kolomna, near Moscow.
The new plant is expected to produce up to a maximum of 1,000 engines per year for rail, mining and on-site power generation applications. It is intended to launch assembling, testing, painting, as well as aftersales services. Furthermore, Transmashholding and Tognum are to set up a joint engineering center for diesel engine development. The joint venture business will be run by a specially established legal party, MTU Transmashholding Diesel Technologies.
Investments in the project are expected to reach around 80 million euros.
The partner plant to finalize design documents for the new production facility by November 1, 2013 and kick off production by December 2015. 

United Wagon Company And Amsted Rail Sign Agreement On Railway Technology Cooperation
United Wagon Company (UWC) of Russia and Amsted Rail (AR) of the United States signed an agreement to cooperate in the area of railway equipment production.
According to the document, United Wagon Company will receive full intellectual property rights to AR’s Motion Control 18-9836 bogie design. This 25-ton per axle load bogie model has been specifically adapted by AR engineers for freight railcars operating on 1520 mm gauge tracks of Russia and other CIS countries. Amsted Rail will continue a direct license relationship with its existing Russian partners, while UWC will have the authority to issue new licenses to produce Motion Control bogie to other Russian and CIS manufacturers of railway rolling stock.
As part of their long-term cooperation, the parties also agreed to establish a joint venture for designing and manufacturing innovative components for freight railcars.

Sovcomflot Plans To Develop Civil Shipbuilding In Far East
The Russian maritime shipping company Sovcomflot is developing civil shipbuilding in the Far East, the company’s Director General Sergei Frank said.
“Over the past five years we have invested 22 billion roubles into Russia’s shipbuilding and we are very satisfied with this work. We have invested a similar sum into projects in coordination with the United Shipbuilding Corporation and its partners in joint ventures within the framework of technology transfer to Russia,” he said at his meeting with Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.
“Undoubtedly, our priority is to develop civil shipbuilding in the Far East in the future,” Mr Frank said. “We are guided by the United Shipbuilding Corporation which announced this plan as its priority.”
Frank said Sovcomflot had signed an agreement with Russia’s gas giant Gazprom to develop a fleet of gas tankers with a capacity of 170,000 cubic meters each that would be localised at the Zvezda Shipyard in the Primorsky Territory. “Gazprom provides us with good opportunities, our shipbuilders hope that they can develop this production by the end of 2017-2018,” he said.

Petrolesport Will Invest $1 billion In Its Development Project
Petrolesport OJSC, a part of Global Ports, needs to invest $1 billion in its development project, said Maxim Martyshov, the company’s Director for Development and Capital Construction.
It will take Petrolesport 10 years to carry out its development project in the Big Port of St Petersburg. According to M. Martyshov, the project envisages the reconstruction of production capacities in the port, and a switch from timber and metal scrap to containerised freight and ro-ro cargoes. The project, developed by LenmorNIIproject OJSC, covers the expansion of the mooring berth by 400 metres.
The company plans to begin to carry out this project in a year.

Uralvagonzavod Can Begin To Produce Railcars In Angola In 2016-2017
Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) has indicated an interest in establishing an assembly facility in Angola to build rolling stock for railways in southern Africa.
The investment needed for the project is about $100 million, and Vneshtorgbank (VTB) has announced that it can lend the sum. In the words of Yury Lyzhin, UVZ Director for Interaction with State Organisations, the production can be launched in 2016-2017, when Angola finalises the modernization of its railway network.
To carry out the project, UVZ is looking for local companies to act as a partner.

Rzd Bought 387 Locomotives In January-June 2013
In the first half of 2013, 387 new locomotives were delivered to the railway network of RZD. For that the company invested RUB 38.8 billion.
Among the acquired locomotives there are DC electric freight locomotives with asynchronous traction drive 2ES10 “Granite” (18 units), AC electric freight locomotives 2ES5K (4 units), DC electric freight 2ES6 “Sinara”(50 units), AC electric freight locomotives 3ES5K “Ermak” (67 units), DC electric freight locomotives 2ES4K “Donchak” (20 units), freight diesel locomotives with asynchronous traction drive 2TE25A “Vityaz” (5 units), freight diesel locomotives 2TE116U (44 units), and 2TE116UD with General Electric diesel (5 units). Also, RZD purchased 13 passenger dual-voltage electric locomotives EP20, 24 passenger DC electric locomotives EP2K, 20 passenger AC electric locomotives EP1 (M, P), and16 passenger diesel locomotives TEP70BS.
In addition, the company’s fleet of shunting locomotives has increased by 79 locomotives TEM18D, 9 locomotives of TEM18V model with a diesel engine made by Finnish company Wärtsilä, 9 locomotives TEM7A, and 4 locomotives TEM14 with dual-diesel power plant.

Rzd Is Going To Develop Flat Wagons For HsR
Russian Railways in cooperation with wagon producers are going to develop a fast container flat wagon for high-speed railways (HSR). Its speed will be up to 160 kph, said Valentin Gapanovich, Senior Vice President of RZD.
Currently, there are no special HSR in Russia. The first such project will be the Moscow – Kazan route. It is supposed that there will be both passenger and container trains travelling on the route.
“We are developing, and next year we will present a fast container flat wagon for 160 kph speed. When the HSR is built, the new flat wagon will fill the timetable, and the efficiency of the traffic will increase due to passenger and container transportation. Development works will be carried out by our Joint Center of Innovative Wagon Building, which was launched by Tatravagonka, Transmashholding, and RZD,” V. Gapanovich said

Final Pool of Investors in Ust-Luga Port Will Be Formed In 2014
The final pool of investors into the Ust-Luga port of the Leningrad region, will be formed in 2014, said Valery Izrailit, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the port.
“We hope that the pool of investors will be completely formed next year,” noted V. Izrailit. In his words, one large company is now developing the justification of investments for the construction of a grain terminal, and another company – for bulked cargo terminal.
According to forecasts, the port’s turnover will amount to 66-67 million tons in 2013, thus, the port will be number 2 in Russia according to throughput. Mr Izrailit specified that the port’s throughput will continue to grow. “In 2014 the port’s throughput will increase for sure. Throughput grows in all ports of Russia. We are above the market average figures according to the throughput. The average market growth is 4-5%, and ours is 50%. I am not sure that we can maintain such high rates, but our growth will be above the market average anyway,” stated V. Izrailit.

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Tver Railcar Building Plant (TVZ, a part of Transmashholding) delivered the first double-decker train to Federal Passenger Company (FPC, a subsidiary of RZD).

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Tver Railcar Building Plant (TVZ, a part of Transmashholding) delivered the first double-decker train to Federal Passenger Company (FPC, a subsidiary of RZD).

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Tvz Plans To Make 50 Double-Decker Railcars Before The Year-End
Tver Railcar Building Plant (TVZ, a part of Transmashholding) delivered the first double-decker train to Federal Passenger Company (FPC, a subsidiary of RZD).
There are 15 carriages in the train: 12 compartment coaches, one staff car, one two-berth sleeper, and one dining car.
By the end of 2013, TVZ will manufacture 50 double-deckers for Russian Railways in total – three trains and a reserve.
The passenger capacity of the new sleeping car with 4-berth compartments is 64 berths, of the two-berth sleeper – 30 berths, of the staff carriage – 50 berths (including 2 specially fitted berths for one disabled passenger and an accompanying person).
All cars are manufactured with the use of energy-efficient technologies. The centralized power supply offers the possibility of reducing power consumption by 35-40%. As compared with conventional cars, the double-deckers provide for significant operational cost savings.
At present, TVZ proceeds working on development of double-deckers with seats. The first prototypes are expected to be built in 2015.

Caterpillar and Uralvagonzavod Plan to Launch JV to Assemble Locomotives in Russia

Caterpillar and Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) plan to launch a joint venture to assemble locomotives in Russia, says non-profit partnership Union of industries of Railway Equipment (NP UIRE).
Capacities of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Works (a part of UVZ) will be used for locomotive production.

Gazprom and Russian Railways to Convert Locomotives to Gas
Gazprom and Russian Railways recently signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the natural gas vehicle (NGV) sector.
The document is signed with the aim of using gas as a fuel for railroad applications. This will make it possible to reduce transportation costs due to the fuel used and to mitigate adverse environmental impacts.
The parties will jointly develop and implement programs for designing, testing and using gas–powered locomotives. A draft Federal Target Program on Natural Gas as a Motor Fuel for the Railway Rolling Stock between 2014 and 2020 will be prepared.
The number of gas-powered locomotives and their maintenance facilities will be gradually increased along with the development of NGV fuel production capacities and refueling infrastructure.

Transmashholding and Tognum to Set up Joint Diesel Engine Production in Kolomna
Transmashholding, the biggest Russian transport engineering company, and Tognum Group, a leading global manufacturer of diesel engines and complex propulsion systems have reached an agreement to set up a joint venture company for diesel engine production in the city of Kolomna, near Moscow.
The new plant is expected to produce up to a maximum of 1,000 engines per year for rail, mining and on-site power generation applications. It is intended to launch assembling, testing, painting, as well as aftersales services. Furthermore, Transmashholding and Tognum are to set up a joint engineering center for diesel engine development. The joint venture business will be run by a specially established legal party, MTU Transmashholding Diesel Technologies.
Investments in the project are expected to reach around 80 million euros.
The partner plant to finalize design documents for the new production facility by November 1, 2013 and kick off production by December 2015. 

United Wagon Company And Amsted Rail Sign Agreement On Railway Technology Cooperation
United Wagon Company (UWC) of Russia and Amsted Rail (AR) of the United States signed an agreement to cooperate in the area of railway equipment production.
According to the document, United Wagon Company will receive full intellectual property rights to AR’s Motion Control 18-9836 bogie design. This 25-ton per axle load bogie model has been specifically adapted by AR engineers for freight railcars operating on 1520 mm gauge tracks of Russia and other CIS countries. Amsted Rail will continue a direct license relationship with its existing Russian partners, while UWC will have the authority to issue new licenses to produce Motion Control bogie to other Russian and CIS manufacturers of railway rolling stock.
As part of their long-term cooperation, the parties also agreed to establish a joint venture for designing and manufacturing innovative components for freight railcars.

Sovcomflot Plans To Develop Civil Shipbuilding In Far East
The Russian maritime shipping company Sovcomflot is developing civil shipbuilding in the Far East, the company’s Director General Sergei Frank said.
“Over the past five years we have invested 22 billion roubles into Russia’s shipbuilding and we are very satisfied with this work. We have invested a similar sum into projects in coordination with the United Shipbuilding Corporation and its partners in joint ventures within the framework of technology transfer to Russia,” he said at his meeting with Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.
“Undoubtedly, our priority is to develop civil shipbuilding in the Far East in the future,” Mr Frank said. “We are guided by the United Shipbuilding Corporation which announced this plan as its priority.”
Frank said Sovcomflot had signed an agreement with Russia’s gas giant Gazprom to develop a fleet of gas tankers with a capacity of 170,000 cubic meters each that would be localised at the Zvezda Shipyard in the Primorsky Territory. “Gazprom provides us with good opportunities, our shipbuilders hope that they can develop this production by the end of 2017-2018,” he said.

Petrolesport Will Invest $1 billion In Its Development Project
Petrolesport OJSC, a part of Global Ports, needs to invest $1 billion in its development project, said Maxim Martyshov, the company’s Director for Development and Capital Construction.
It will take Petrolesport 10 years to carry out its development project in the Big Port of St Petersburg. According to M. Martyshov, the project envisages the reconstruction of production capacities in the port, and a switch from timber and metal scrap to containerised freight and ro-ro cargoes. The project, developed by LenmorNIIproject OJSC, covers the expansion of the mooring berth by 400 metres.
The company plans to begin to carry out this project in a year.

Uralvagonzavod Can Begin To Produce Railcars In Angola In 2016-2017
Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) has indicated an interest in establishing an assembly facility in Angola to build rolling stock for railways in southern Africa.
The investment needed for the project is about $100 million, and Vneshtorgbank (VTB) has announced that it can lend the sum. In the words of Yury Lyzhin, UVZ Director for Interaction with State Organisations, the production can be launched in 2016-2017, when Angola finalises the modernization of its railway network.
To carry out the project, UVZ is looking for local companies to act as a partner.

Rzd Bought 387 Locomotives In January-June 2013
In the first half of 2013, 387 new locomotives were delivered to the railway network of RZD. For that the company invested RUB 38.8 billion.
Among the acquired locomotives there are DC electric freight locomotives with asynchronous traction drive 2ES10 “Granite” (18 units), AC electric freight locomotives 2ES5K (4 units), DC electric freight 2ES6 “Sinara”(50 units), AC electric freight locomotives 3ES5K “Ermak” (67 units), DC electric freight locomotives 2ES4K “Donchak” (20 units), freight diesel locomotives with asynchronous traction drive 2TE25A “Vityaz” (5 units), freight diesel locomotives 2TE116U (44 units), and 2TE116UD with General Electric diesel (5 units). Also, RZD purchased 13 passenger dual-voltage electric locomotives EP20, 24 passenger DC electric locomotives EP2K, 20 passenger AC electric locomotives EP1 (M, P), and16 passenger diesel locomotives TEP70BS.
In addition, the company’s fleet of shunting locomotives has increased by 79 locomotives TEM18D, 9 locomotives of TEM18V model with a diesel engine made by Finnish company Wärtsilä, 9 locomotives TEM7A, and 4 locomotives TEM14 with dual-diesel power plant.

Rzd Is Going To Develop Flat Wagons For HsR
Russian Railways in cooperation with wagon producers are going to develop a fast container flat wagon for high-speed railways (HSR). Its speed will be up to 160 kph, said Valentin Gapanovich, Senior Vice President of RZD.
Currently, there are no special HSR in Russia. The first such project will be the Moscow – Kazan route. It is supposed that there will be both passenger and container trains travelling on the route.
“We are developing, and next year we will present a fast container flat wagon for 160 kph speed. When the HSR is built, the new flat wagon will fill the timetable, and the efficiency of the traffic will increase due to passenger and container transportation. Development works will be carried out by our Joint Center of Innovative Wagon Building, which was launched by Tatravagonka, Transmashholding, and RZD,” V. Gapanovich said

Final Pool of Investors in Ust-Luga Port Will Be Formed In 2014
The final pool of investors into the Ust-Luga port of the Leningrad region, will be formed in 2014, said Valery Izrailit, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the port.
“We hope that the pool of investors will be completely formed next year,” noted V. Izrailit. In his words, one large company is now developing the justification of investments for the construction of a grain terminal, and another company – for bulked cargo terminal.
According to forecasts, the port’s turnover will amount to 66-67 million tons in 2013, thus, the port will be number 2 in Russia according to throughput. Mr Izrailit specified that the port’s throughput will continue to grow. “In 2014 the port’s throughput will increase for sure. Throughput grows in all ports of Russia. We are above the market average figures according to the throughput. The average market growth is 4-5%, and ours is 50%. I am not sure that we can maintain such high rates, but our growth will be above the market average anyway,” stated V. Izrailit.

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Tvz Plans To Make 50 Double-Decker Railcars Before The Year-End
Tver Railcar Building Plant (TVZ, a part of Transmashholding) delivered the first double-decker train to Federal Passenger Company (FPC, a subsidiary of RZD).
There are 15 carriages in the train: 12 compartment coaches, one staff car, one two-berth sleeper, and one dining car.
By the end of 2013, TVZ will manufacture 50 double-deckers for Russian Railways in total – three trains and a reserve.
The passenger capacity of the new sleeping car with 4-berth compartments is 64 berths, of the two-berth sleeper – 30 berths, of the staff carriage – 50 berths (including 2 specially fitted berths for one disabled passenger and an accompanying person).
All cars are manufactured with the use of energy-efficient technologies. The centralized power supply offers the possibility of reducing power consumption by 35-40%. As compared with conventional cars, the double-deckers provide for significant operational cost savings.
At present, TVZ proceeds working on development of double-deckers with seats. The first prototypes are expected to be built in 2015.

Caterpillar and Uralvagonzavod Plan to Launch JV to Assemble Locomotives in Russia

Caterpillar and Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) plan to launch a joint venture to assemble locomotives in Russia, says non-profit partnership Union of industries of Railway Equipment (NP UIRE).
Capacities of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Works (a part of UVZ) will be used for locomotive production.

Gazprom and Russian Railways to Convert Locomotives to Gas
Gazprom and Russian Railways recently signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the natural gas vehicle (NGV) sector.
The document is signed with the aim of using gas as a fuel for railroad applications. This will make it possible to reduce transportation costs due to the fuel used and to mitigate adverse environmental impacts.
The parties will jointly develop and implement programs for designing, testing and using gas–powered locomotives. A draft Federal Target Program on Natural Gas as a Motor Fuel for the Railway Rolling Stock between 2014 and 2020 will be prepared.
The number of gas-powered locomotives and their maintenance facilities will be gradually increased along with the development of NGV fuel production capacities and refueling infrastructure.

Transmashholding and Tognum to Set up Joint Diesel Engine Production in Kolomna
Transmashholding, the biggest Russian transport engineering company, and Tognum Group, a leading global manufacturer of diesel engines and complex propulsion systems have reached an agreement to set up a joint venture company for diesel engine production in the city of Kolomna, near Moscow.
The new plant is expected to produce up to a maximum of 1,000 engines per year for rail, mining and on-site power generation applications. It is intended to launch assembling, testing, painting, as well as aftersales services. Furthermore, Transmashholding and Tognum are to set up a joint engineering center for diesel engine development. The joint venture business will be run by a specially established legal party, MTU Transmashholding Diesel Technologies.
Investments in the project are expected to reach around 80 million euros.
The partner plant to finalize design documents for the new production facility by November 1, 2013 and kick off production by December 2015. 

United Wagon Company And Amsted Rail Sign Agreement On Railway Technology Cooperation
United Wagon Company (UWC) of Russia and Amsted Rail (AR) of the United States signed an agreement to cooperate in the area of railway equipment production.
According to the document, United Wagon Company will receive full intellectual property rights to AR’s Motion Control 18-9836 bogie design. This 25-ton per axle load bogie model has been specifically adapted by AR engineers for freight railcars operating on 1520 mm gauge tracks of Russia and other CIS countries. Amsted Rail will continue a direct license relationship with its existing Russian partners, while UWC will have the authority to issue new licenses to produce Motion Control bogie to other Russian and CIS manufacturers of railway rolling stock.
As part of their long-term cooperation, the parties also agreed to establish a joint venture for designing and manufacturing innovative components for freight railcars.

Sovcomflot Plans To Develop Civil Shipbuilding In Far East
The Russian maritime shipping company Sovcomflot is developing civil shipbuilding in the Far East, the company’s Director General Sergei Frank said.
“Over the past five years we have invested 22 billion roubles into Russia’s shipbuilding and we are very satisfied with this work. We have invested a similar sum into projects in coordination with the United Shipbuilding Corporation and its partners in joint ventures within the framework of technology transfer to Russia,” he said at his meeting with Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.
“Undoubtedly, our priority is to develop civil shipbuilding in the Far East in the future,” Mr Frank said. “We are guided by the United Shipbuilding Corporation which announced this plan as its priority.”
Frank said Sovcomflot had signed an agreement with Russia’s gas giant Gazprom to develop a fleet of gas tankers with a capacity of 170,000 cubic meters each that would be localised at the Zvezda Shipyard in the Primorsky Territory. “Gazprom provides us with good opportunities, our shipbuilders hope that they can develop this production by the end of 2017-2018,” he said.

Petrolesport Will Invest $1 billion In Its Development Project
Petrolesport OJSC, a part of Global Ports, needs to invest $1 billion in its development project, said Maxim Martyshov, the company’s Director for Development and Capital Construction.
It will take Petrolesport 10 years to carry out its development project in the Big Port of St Petersburg. According to M. Martyshov, the project envisages the reconstruction of production capacities in the port, and a switch from timber and metal scrap to containerised freight and ro-ro cargoes. The project, developed by LenmorNIIproject OJSC, covers the expansion of the mooring berth by 400 metres.
The company plans to begin to carry out this project in a year.

Uralvagonzavod Can Begin To Produce Railcars In Angola In 2016-2017
Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) has indicated an interest in establishing an assembly facility in Angola to build rolling stock for railways in southern Africa.
The investment needed for the project is about $100 million, and Vneshtorgbank (VTB) has announced that it can lend the sum. In the words of Yury Lyzhin, UVZ Director for Interaction with State Organisations, the production can be launched in 2016-2017, when Angola finalises the modernization of its railway network.
To carry out the project, UVZ is looking for local companies to act as a partner.

Rzd Bought 387 Locomotives In January-June 2013
In the first half of 2013, 387 new locomotives were delivered to the railway network of RZD. For that the company invested RUB 38.8 billion.
Among the acquired locomotives there are DC electric freight locomotives with asynchronous traction drive 2ES10 “Granite” (18 units), AC electric freight locomotives 2ES5K (4 units), DC electric freight 2ES6 “Sinara”(50 units), AC electric freight locomotives 3ES5K “Ermak” (67 units), DC electric freight locomotives 2ES4K “Donchak” (20 units), freight diesel locomotives with asynchronous traction drive 2TE25A “Vityaz” (5 units), freight diesel locomotives 2TE116U (44 units), and 2TE116UD with General Electric diesel (5 units). Also, RZD purchased 13 passenger dual-voltage electric locomotives EP20, 24 passenger DC electric locomotives EP2K, 20 passenger AC electric locomotives EP1 (M, P), and16 passenger diesel locomotives TEP70BS.
In addition, the company’s fleet of shunting locomotives has increased by 79 locomotives TEM18D, 9 locomotives of TEM18V model with a diesel engine made by Finnish company Wärtsilä, 9 locomotives TEM7A, and 4 locomotives TEM14 with dual-diesel power plant.

Rzd Is Going To Develop Flat Wagons For HsR
Russian Railways in cooperation with wagon producers are going to develop a fast container flat wagon for high-speed railways (HSR). Its speed will be up to 160 kph, said Valentin Gapanovich, Senior Vice President of RZD.
Currently, there are no special HSR in Russia. The first such project will be the Moscow – Kazan route. It is supposed that there will be both passenger and container trains travelling on the route.
“We are developing, and next year we will present a fast container flat wagon for 160 kph speed. When the HSR is built, the new flat wagon will fill the timetable, and the efficiency of the traffic will increase due to passenger and container transportation. Development works will be carried out by our Joint Center of Innovative Wagon Building, which was launched by Tatravagonka, Transmashholding, and RZD,” V. Gapanovich said

Final Pool of Investors in Ust-Luga Port Will Be Formed In 2014
The final pool of investors into the Ust-Luga port of the Leningrad region, will be formed in 2014, said Valery Izrailit, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the port.
“We hope that the pool of investors will be completely formed next year,” noted V. Izrailit. In his words, one large company is now developing the justification of investments for the construction of a grain terminal, and another company – for bulked cargo terminal.
According to forecasts, the port’s turnover will amount to 66-67 million tons in 2013, thus, the port will be number 2 in Russia according to throughput. Mr Izrailit specified that the port’s throughput will continue to grow. “In 2014 the port’s throughput will increase for sure. Throughput grows in all ports of Russia. We are above the market average figures according to the throughput. The average market growth is 4-5%, and ours is 50%. I am not sure that we can maintain such high rates, but our growth will be above the market average anyway,” stated V. Izrailit.

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Tver Railcar Building Plant (TVZ, a part of Transmashholding) delivered the first double-decker train to Federal Passenger Company (FPC, a subsidiary of RZD).

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РЖД-Партнер

“Viking” Is in Search of Prospects

“Viking” Is in Search of Prospects

The potential freight base of the “Viking” project (a container train linking the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is almost exhausted in the area of its initial route Lithuania – Belarus – Ukraine. Further works targeted at interstate development of the project will create new prospects, but their success depends on the participants’ being open to present-day integration processes.

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Attract and Keep

Since the launch of the project in 2003, the Lithuanian operator of the train Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways JSC) insisted that the transportation service must exist in the market regardless of how the route is loaded in practice – this is the pledge for expansion of the freight base, which was highly valued by the Lithuanian participant of the project, who considered it equal to the potential container turnover of the Klaipeda port, which dispatches up to 15% of its throughput by train. It took almost 10 years to persuade the Ukrainian partner Ukrzaliznytsia: only in 2012 did trains start to work on the Ukrainian section on timetable (earlier – in case there was cargo registered for transportation). “There was a regular timetable, but an obligatory condition for the train departure was at least 15 loaded container flat wagons. No cargo, no train departure. On the other hand, if there was no train, there was no cargo. Joint efforts allowed breaking this circle, and since the beginning of 2012 the train departed two times a week, and then, when the loading volume increased, - three times a week,” says Vasily Zubkov, Advisor to PLASKE, the Ukrainian operator of the train. The lack of a reliable timetable and, to a significant degree, the difficulty of Ukrainian customs and border procedures contributed to the imbalance in the development of the cargo loading volume on the route: the Belarusian – Lithuanian section developed actively, while the Ukrainian was loaded insufficiently. There was almost no through transportation between Lithuania and Ukraine, only the Ukraine – Belarus section was operating, mainly due to the freight from Belarus. Its basis was tractors produced by the Minsk Tractor Plant JSC destined for the Ilyichevsk port, and the backload was the rubber, carried via Ukraine as transit destined for Belshina OJSC. In other words, Ukraine didn’t provide the route with freight. However, they failed even to keep the Belarusian cargo because of the unstable tariff policy of Ukrzaliznytsia. “There were five increases in Ukrainian tariffs for the “Viking” only in 2008-2009 – three in 2008 and two in 2009,”says Vasily Yakimov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Ilyichevskvneshtrans CJSC. “Non-competitive tariff rates stopped transportation of tractor CKDs destined for Egypt via the Ilyichevsk port. The crisis also had some negative impact, but Belarusian production did not idle, and products left for the Klaipeda port, via the sea route from it to Alexandria is much longer.”
No wonder, the share of the Lithuanian – Belarusian section had exceeded 93% of the total loading volume of the “Viking” by 2012, while the share of through transportation was less than 2%. The year of 2012 was a milestone for Ukraine: Ukrzaliznytsia and the Ministry of Infrastructure took a number of steps to support the project. “There were three key factors equally important: a regular schedule, Ukrzaliznytsia’s discounts on container transportation, and opening additional stations to load the route,” explains Sergey Seroshtan, the Head of the Department for Railways at the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. Encouraging results appeared very soon: transportation on the “Viking” route with the participation of Ukrzaliznytsia grew 3.9-fold to 13,885 TEU in 2012. Meanwhile, the loading volume on the Belarus – Lithuania section fell 18.3% to 44,822 TEU, because of changes in the market situation (a decline in the imports of cars and car components to Belarus). Ukrzaliznytsia announced its readiness to attract new volumes of Lithuanian and Belarusian cargoes to the route, if border procedures were sped up. The Lithuanian side also constantly brings up the problem of delays at the Ukrainian border. At first, the Lithuanian operator mentioned it as a barrier preventing the development of the “Viking” route. After the situation began to improve, they started to focus on advantages of the “Viking” in comparison with road transport, for which crossing the border still remains a problem. According to Ukrainian operators of the “Viking” train, the average idle time of the train on the Ukrainian border varies between two and four hours, which is progress in comparison with the previous year, when delays lasted a day or even more.
The issue of reducing the time needed for border formalities to half an hour is on the agenda: the further growth of transportation on the Ukrainian section is hardly possible without it. However, only re-distribution of the existing route freight base seems to be possible in the future. “There is some definite potential of transportation by the “Viking” train from Belarus and the Baltic States to the Ukrainian ports, if the time needed for border control procedures reduces. However, it takes the customs an hour or more to check the “Viking” instead of 30-40 minutes,” Yury Merkulov, Head of the Main Commercial Department of Ukrzaliznytsia complained in May 2013. Simultaneously, the Ukrainian party will have to simplify the procedures for container transportation via ports. Even if these barriers are removed, the freight base in the area of the Odessa/Ilyichevsk – Klaipeda route is almost exhausted, and further growth will require the attraction of cargoes from external goods markets.

Reserves for Growth


Recently, the “Viking” participants thought that the most logical step to be made is the attraction of freight from sea container routes, because the positions of global transporters in the container ports of Lithuania and Ukraine became stronger. It is admitted today, however, that the “Viking” cannot compete with sea transport on the major alternative route via the Black Sea/the Mediterranean – the Baltic Sea round Europe. According to Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai, sea transportation from Turkey to Lithuania around Europe will cost 30% less than on-land transportation with the participation of the “Viking” (Turkey – Bulgaria – Romania – Moldova – Ukraine – Belarus - Lithuania), though it will take 20 days instead of 8. The idea to attract Chinese freight from direct ocean transport lines to the route seems to be of little promise, even despite the fact that during the period of toughening customs procedures in Ukrainian ports, Chinese imports switched from the Black Sea to by-passing routes, including that one to Klaipeda with further transportation of cargo to Ukraine via Belarus and Poland.
At the same time, Middle-East transit, carried by road, can switch to the “Viking” route. Transportation by road on the Turkey – Lithuania route costs €3,850, while that by the “Viking” train costs €1,400 for the 20-foot container and €2,065 for a 40-foot container. Delivery time is also comparable: 6 days by road transport, and 8 days by rail.
The intermodal version of the Turkey – Lithuania route, providing a rail-ferry service on the Black Sea and then – on the main route of the “Viking,” has some potential too. However, its cost is higher than that of the “Viking”, although it is cheaper than road transport – €2,010 for a 20-foot container and € 2,780 for a 40-foot one. The transportation time is 10 days. Of these, 78% is transportation by sea, but the number of land border crossings is minimised, and there is a basis for the use of the Agreement on Direct International Goods Transport by Rail (using the crossings with 1,520mm gauge in the Turkish port Derince). Taking into account the benefits of this variant, the Lithuanian side proposed the rail-ferry carrier Ukrferry reducing tariffs to the competitive level for the “Viking.” This initiative is a continuation of the dialogue between Lietuvos gelezinkeliai and Turkish representatives trying to fulfill the current major objective of the project - the expansion of its geography. Last April, Turkey announced about joining the “Viking” project, having signed a relevant memorandum with the Republic of Lithuania. Thus, after Bulgaria and Romania, Turkey became the third participant of the “Viking” development in the southern direction. A pioneer was BDZ Tovarnni Prevosi (BDZ Freight Transportation), which joined the project in December 2012, the second southern participant in the project is the Romanian national freight operator CFR MARFA (from February 2013). In May CFR MARFA entered into two agreements with Lietuvos gelezinkeliai - for freight forwarding and provision of logistics services. In June, Moldova joined the project, declaring rates for the “Viking” route. In summer, Ukrferry announced a reduction of tariffs on transportation in the area of the “Viking” project. “We made this step, because we saw the potential of attracting additional containerised cargoes to the “Viking” route.” Container transport is particularly interesting to us taking into account the decline in volumes transported by railcars,” said Alexander Kurlyand, President of Ukrferry.
Developing southwards lays the foundation for bringing transit from the Middle East to the “Viking” route. It is the only real source for boosting its cargo base now. The oncoming flow of transit goods from Northern and Western Europe is still up in the air. This does not motivate Georgia and Caucasia, which focus on imports and have limited domestic cargo bases, to join the project. New southern members are interested, first of all, in the cargo base of road transporters, however, a harmonised tariff policy is needed for its development. Today, new participants join the project only after they agree to adhere to the single rate in tariff-kilometres introduced on the route. This, however, does not exclude implementation of special (favorable) conditions on some railway sections, if necessary. Perhaps, Belarus will choose to take such a step, because “Viking” is an important transit corridor for the country. As recognised by Vladislav Lembievsky, Deputy Director of Belintertrans (Belarusian operator of the project), transit makes not more than 8% of the total freight carried by the “Viking” train in the republic. Therefore, it is an untapped reserve, and its usage is considered as a priority. A similar problem is the priority for the “Viking” in general, but its solution is linked to a set of complex inter-state actions: the introduction of e-document circulation and through transport documents (CIS/SMGS consignment note), the unification of border crossing procedures and customs clearance; the optimisation of tariffs (with the introduction of a through rate). Otherwise, “Viking” can hardly count on new sources for its development.
By Vladimir Katkevich

quotation
Stasis Gudvalis, Deputy CEO – Director of the Directorate for Freight Transportation, Lithuanian Railways JSC:
– We are interested in other participants joining the “Viking” project, but we should specify on its terms. I think, the main one is the stability of conditions, on which the train has been operating for 10 years already. One must understand: when cargo transportation volume plummets does, as today, we must actively look for common interests and join forces to prove that we can compete with other transport modes.

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Attract and Keep

Since the launch of the project in 2003, the Lithuanian operator of the train Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways JSC) insisted that the transportation service must exist in the market regardless of how the route is loaded in practice – this is the pledge for expansion of the freight base, which was highly valued by the Lithuanian participant of the project, who considered it equal to the potential container turnover of the Klaipeda port, which dispatches up to 15% of its throughput by train. It took almost 10 years to persuade the Ukrainian partner Ukrzaliznytsia: only in 2012 did trains start to work on the Ukrainian section on timetable (earlier – in case there was cargo registered for transportation). “There was a regular timetable, but an obligatory condition for the train departure was at least 15 loaded container flat wagons. No cargo, no train departure. On the other hand, if there was no train, there was no cargo. Joint efforts allowed breaking this circle, and since the beginning of 2012 the train departed two times a week, and then, when the loading volume increased, - three times a week,” says Vasily Zubkov, Advisor to PLASKE, the Ukrainian operator of the train. The lack of a reliable timetable and, to a significant degree, the difficulty of Ukrainian customs and border procedures contributed to the imbalance in the development of the cargo loading volume on the route: the Belarusian – Lithuanian section developed actively, while the Ukrainian was loaded insufficiently. There was almost no through transportation between Lithuania and Ukraine, only the Ukraine – Belarus section was operating, mainly due to the freight from Belarus. Its basis was tractors produced by the Minsk Tractor Plant JSC destined for the Ilyichevsk port, and the backload was the rubber, carried via Ukraine as transit destined for Belshina OJSC. In other words, Ukraine didn’t provide the route with freight. However, they failed even to keep the Belarusian cargo because of the unstable tariff policy of Ukrzaliznytsia. “There were five increases in Ukrainian tariffs for the “Viking” only in 2008-2009 – three in 2008 and two in 2009,”says Vasily Yakimov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Ilyichevskvneshtrans CJSC. “Non-competitive tariff rates stopped transportation of tractor CKDs destined for Egypt via the Ilyichevsk port. The crisis also had some negative impact, but Belarusian production did not idle, and products left for the Klaipeda port, via the sea route from it to Alexandria is much longer.”
No wonder, the share of the Lithuanian – Belarusian section had exceeded 93% of the total loading volume of the “Viking” by 2012, while the share of through transportation was less than 2%. The year of 2012 was a milestone for Ukraine: Ukrzaliznytsia and the Ministry of Infrastructure took a number of steps to support the project. “There were three key factors equally important: a regular schedule, Ukrzaliznytsia’s discounts on container transportation, and opening additional stations to load the route,” explains Sergey Seroshtan, the Head of the Department for Railways at the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. Encouraging results appeared very soon: transportation on the “Viking” route with the participation of Ukrzaliznytsia grew 3.9-fold to 13,885 TEU in 2012. Meanwhile, the loading volume on the Belarus – Lithuania section fell 18.3% to 44,822 TEU, because of changes in the market situation (a decline in the imports of cars and car components to Belarus). Ukrzaliznytsia announced its readiness to attract new volumes of Lithuanian and Belarusian cargoes to the route, if border procedures were sped up. The Lithuanian side also constantly brings up the problem of delays at the Ukrainian border. At first, the Lithuanian operator mentioned it as a barrier preventing the development of the “Viking” route. After the situation began to improve, they started to focus on advantages of the “Viking” in comparison with road transport, for which crossing the border still remains a problem. According to Ukrainian operators of the “Viking” train, the average idle time of the train on the Ukrainian border varies between two and four hours, which is progress in comparison with the previous year, when delays lasted a day or even more.
The issue of reducing the time needed for border formalities to half an hour is on the agenda: the further growth of transportation on the Ukrainian section is hardly possible without it. However, only re-distribution of the existing route freight base seems to be possible in the future. “There is some definite potential of transportation by the “Viking” train from Belarus and the Baltic States to the Ukrainian ports, if the time needed for border control procedures reduces. However, it takes the customs an hour or more to check the “Viking” instead of 30-40 minutes,” Yury Merkulov, Head of the Main Commercial Department of Ukrzaliznytsia complained in May 2013. Simultaneously, the Ukrainian party will have to simplify the procedures for container transportation via ports. Even if these barriers are removed, the freight base in the area of the Odessa/Ilyichevsk – Klaipeda route is almost exhausted, and further growth will require the attraction of cargoes from external goods markets.

Reserves for Growth


Recently, the “Viking” participants thought that the most logical step to be made is the attraction of freight from sea container routes, because the positions of global transporters in the container ports of Lithuania and Ukraine became stronger. It is admitted today, however, that the “Viking” cannot compete with sea transport on the major alternative route via the Black Sea/the Mediterranean – the Baltic Sea round Europe. According to Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai, sea transportation from Turkey to Lithuania around Europe will cost 30% less than on-land transportation with the participation of the “Viking” (Turkey – Bulgaria – Romania – Moldova – Ukraine – Belarus - Lithuania), though it will take 20 days instead of 8. The idea to attract Chinese freight from direct ocean transport lines to the route seems to be of little promise, even despite the fact that during the period of toughening customs procedures in Ukrainian ports, Chinese imports switched from the Black Sea to by-passing routes, including that one to Klaipeda with further transportation of cargo to Ukraine via Belarus and Poland.
At the same time, Middle-East transit, carried by road, can switch to the “Viking” route. Transportation by road on the Turkey – Lithuania route costs €3,850, while that by the “Viking” train costs €1,400 for the 20-foot container and €2,065 for a 40-foot container. Delivery time is also comparable: 6 days by road transport, and 8 days by rail.
The intermodal version of the Turkey – Lithuania route, providing a rail-ferry service on the Black Sea and then – on the main route of the “Viking,” has some potential too. However, its cost is higher than that of the “Viking”, although it is cheaper than road transport – €2,010 for a 20-foot container and € 2,780 for a 40-foot one. The transportation time is 10 days. Of these, 78% is transportation by sea, but the number of land border crossings is minimised, and there is a basis for the use of the Agreement on Direct International Goods Transport by Rail (using the crossings with 1,520mm gauge in the Turkish port Derince). Taking into account the benefits of this variant, the Lithuanian side proposed the rail-ferry carrier Ukrferry reducing tariffs to the competitive level for the “Viking.” This initiative is a continuation of the dialogue between Lietuvos gelezinkeliai and Turkish representatives trying to fulfill the current major objective of the project - the expansion of its geography. Last April, Turkey announced about joining the “Viking” project, having signed a relevant memorandum with the Republic of Lithuania. Thus, after Bulgaria and Romania, Turkey became the third participant of the “Viking” development in the southern direction. A pioneer was BDZ Tovarnni Prevosi (BDZ Freight Transportation), which joined the project in December 2012, the second southern participant in the project is the Romanian national freight operator CFR MARFA (from February 2013). In May CFR MARFA entered into two agreements with Lietuvos gelezinkeliai - for freight forwarding and provision of logistics services. In June, Moldova joined the project, declaring rates for the “Viking” route. In summer, Ukrferry announced a reduction of tariffs on transportation in the area of the “Viking” project. “We made this step, because we saw the potential of attracting additional containerised cargoes to the “Viking” route.” Container transport is particularly interesting to us taking into account the decline in volumes transported by railcars,” said Alexander Kurlyand, President of Ukrferry.
Developing southwards lays the foundation for bringing transit from the Middle East to the “Viking” route. It is the only real source for boosting its cargo base now. The oncoming flow of transit goods from Northern and Western Europe is still up in the air. This does not motivate Georgia and Caucasia, which focus on imports and have limited domestic cargo bases, to join the project. New southern members are interested, first of all, in the cargo base of road transporters, however, a harmonised tariff policy is needed for its development. Today, new participants join the project only after they agree to adhere to the single rate in tariff-kilometres introduced on the route. This, however, does not exclude implementation of special (favorable) conditions on some railway sections, if necessary. Perhaps, Belarus will choose to take such a step, because “Viking” is an important transit corridor for the country. As recognised by Vladislav Lembievsky, Deputy Director of Belintertrans (Belarusian operator of the project), transit makes not more than 8% of the total freight carried by the “Viking” train in the republic. Therefore, it is an untapped reserve, and its usage is considered as a priority. A similar problem is the priority for the “Viking” in general, but its solution is linked to a set of complex inter-state actions: the introduction of e-document circulation and through transport documents (CIS/SMGS consignment note), the unification of border crossing procedures and customs clearance; the optimisation of tariffs (with the introduction of a through rate). Otherwise, “Viking” can hardly count on new sources for its development.
By Vladimir Katkevich

quotation
Stasis Gudvalis, Deputy CEO – Director of the Directorate for Freight Transportation, Lithuanian Railways JSC:
– We are interested in other participants joining the “Viking” project, but we should specify on its terms. I think, the main one is the stability of conditions, on which the train has been operating for 10 years already. One must understand: when cargo transportation volume plummets does, as today, we must actively look for common interests and join forces to prove that we can compete with other transport modes.

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The potential freight base of the “Viking” project (a container train linking the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is almost exhausted in the area of its initial route Lithuania – Belarus – Ukraine. Further works targeted at interstate development of the project will create new prospects, but their success depends on the participants’ being open to present-day integration processes.

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The potential freight base of the “Viking” project (a container train linking the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is almost exhausted in the area of its initial route Lithuania – Belarus – Ukraine. Further works targeted at interstate development of the project will create new prospects, but their success depends on the participants’ being open to present-day integration processes.

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Attract and Keep

Since the launch of the project in 2003, the Lithuanian operator of the train Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways JSC) insisted that the transportation service must exist in the market regardless of how the route is loaded in practice – this is the pledge for expansion of the freight base, which was highly valued by the Lithuanian participant of the project, who considered it equal to the potential container turnover of the Klaipeda port, which dispatches up to 15% of its throughput by train. It took almost 10 years to persuade the Ukrainian partner Ukrzaliznytsia: only in 2012 did trains start to work on the Ukrainian section on timetable (earlier – in case there was cargo registered for transportation). “There was a regular timetable, but an obligatory condition for the train departure was at least 15 loaded container flat wagons. No cargo, no train departure. On the other hand, if there was no train, there was no cargo. Joint efforts allowed breaking this circle, and since the beginning of 2012 the train departed two times a week, and then, when the loading volume increased, - three times a week,” says Vasily Zubkov, Advisor to PLASKE, the Ukrainian operator of the train. The lack of a reliable timetable and, to a significant degree, the difficulty of Ukrainian customs and border procedures contributed to the imbalance in the development of the cargo loading volume on the route: the Belarusian – Lithuanian section developed actively, while the Ukrainian was loaded insufficiently. There was almost no through transportation between Lithuania and Ukraine, only the Ukraine – Belarus section was operating, mainly due to the freight from Belarus. Its basis was tractors produced by the Minsk Tractor Plant JSC destined for the Ilyichevsk port, and the backload was the rubber, carried via Ukraine as transit destined for Belshina OJSC. In other words, Ukraine didn’t provide the route with freight. However, they failed even to keep the Belarusian cargo because of the unstable tariff policy of Ukrzaliznytsia. “There were five increases in Ukrainian tariffs for the “Viking” only in 2008-2009 – three in 2008 and two in 2009,”says Vasily Yakimov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Ilyichevskvneshtrans CJSC. “Non-competitive tariff rates stopped transportation of tractor CKDs destined for Egypt via the Ilyichevsk port. The crisis also had some negative impact, but Belarusian production did not idle, and products left for the Klaipeda port, via the sea route from it to Alexandria is much longer.”
No wonder, the share of the Lithuanian – Belarusian section had exceeded 93% of the total loading volume of the “Viking” by 2012, while the share of through transportation was less than 2%. The year of 2012 was a milestone for Ukraine: Ukrzaliznytsia and the Ministry of Infrastructure took a number of steps to support the project. “There were three key factors equally important: a regular schedule, Ukrzaliznytsia’s discounts on container transportation, and opening additional stations to load the route,” explains Sergey Seroshtan, the Head of the Department for Railways at the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. Encouraging results appeared very soon: transportation on the “Viking” route with the participation of Ukrzaliznytsia grew 3.9-fold to 13,885 TEU in 2012. Meanwhile, the loading volume on the Belarus – Lithuania section fell 18.3% to 44,822 TEU, because of changes in the market situation (a decline in the imports of cars and car components to Belarus). Ukrzaliznytsia announced its readiness to attract new volumes of Lithuanian and Belarusian cargoes to the route, if border procedures were sped up. The Lithuanian side also constantly brings up the problem of delays at the Ukrainian border. At first, the Lithuanian operator mentioned it as a barrier preventing the development of the “Viking” route. After the situation began to improve, they started to focus on advantages of the “Viking” in comparison with road transport, for which crossing the border still remains a problem. According to Ukrainian operators of the “Viking” train, the average idle time of the train on the Ukrainian border varies between two and four hours, which is progress in comparison with the previous year, when delays lasted a day or even more.
The issue of reducing the time needed for border formalities to half an hour is on the agenda: the further growth of transportation on the Ukrainian section is hardly possible without it. However, only re-distribution of the existing route freight base seems to be possible in the future. “There is some definite potential of transportation by the “Viking” train from Belarus and the Baltic States to the Ukrainian ports, if the time needed for border control procedures reduces. However, it takes the customs an hour or more to check the “Viking” instead of 30-40 minutes,” Yury Merkulov, Head of the Main Commercial Department of Ukrzaliznytsia complained in May 2013. Simultaneously, the Ukrainian party will have to simplify the procedures for container transportation via ports. Even if these barriers are removed, the freight base in the area of the Odessa/Ilyichevsk – Klaipeda route is almost exhausted, and further growth will require the attraction of cargoes from external goods markets.

Reserves for Growth


Recently, the “Viking” participants thought that the most logical step to be made is the attraction of freight from sea container routes, because the positions of global transporters in the container ports of Lithuania and Ukraine became stronger. It is admitted today, however, that the “Viking” cannot compete with sea transport on the major alternative route via the Black Sea/the Mediterranean – the Baltic Sea round Europe. According to Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai, sea transportation from Turkey to Lithuania around Europe will cost 30% less than on-land transportation with the participation of the “Viking” (Turkey – Bulgaria – Romania – Moldova – Ukraine – Belarus - Lithuania), though it will take 20 days instead of 8. The idea to attract Chinese freight from direct ocean transport lines to the route seems to be of little promise, even despite the fact that during the period of toughening customs procedures in Ukrainian ports, Chinese imports switched from the Black Sea to by-passing routes, including that one to Klaipeda with further transportation of cargo to Ukraine via Belarus and Poland.
At the same time, Middle-East transit, carried by road, can switch to the “Viking” route. Transportation by road on the Turkey – Lithuania route costs €3,850, while that by the “Viking” train costs €1,400 for the 20-foot container and €2,065 for a 40-foot container. Delivery time is also comparable: 6 days by road transport, and 8 days by rail.
The intermodal version of the Turkey – Lithuania route, providing a rail-ferry service on the Black Sea and then – on the main route of the “Viking,” has some potential too. However, its cost is higher than that of the “Viking”, although it is cheaper than road transport – €2,010 for a 20-foot container and € 2,780 for a 40-foot one. The transportation time is 10 days. Of these, 78% is transportation by sea, but the number of land border crossings is minimised, and there is a basis for the use of the Agreement on Direct International Goods Transport by Rail (using the crossings with 1,520mm gauge in the Turkish port Derince). Taking into account the benefits of this variant, the Lithuanian side proposed the rail-ferry carrier Ukrferry reducing tariffs to the competitive level for the “Viking.” This initiative is a continuation of the dialogue between Lietuvos gelezinkeliai and Turkish representatives trying to fulfill the current major objective of the project - the expansion of its geography. Last April, Turkey announced about joining the “Viking” project, having signed a relevant memorandum with the Republic of Lithuania. Thus, after Bulgaria and Romania, Turkey became the third participant of the “Viking” development in the southern direction. A pioneer was BDZ Tovarnni Prevosi (BDZ Freight Transportation), which joined the project in December 2012, the second southern participant in the project is the Romanian national freight operator CFR MARFA (from February 2013). In May CFR MARFA entered into two agreements with Lietuvos gelezinkeliai - for freight forwarding and provision of logistics services. In June, Moldova joined the project, declaring rates for the “Viking” route. In summer, Ukrferry announced a reduction of tariffs on transportation in the area of the “Viking” project. “We made this step, because we saw the potential of attracting additional containerised cargoes to the “Viking” route.” Container transport is particularly interesting to us taking into account the decline in volumes transported by railcars,” said Alexander Kurlyand, President of Ukrferry.
Developing southwards lays the foundation for bringing transit from the Middle East to the “Viking” route. It is the only real source for boosting its cargo base now. The oncoming flow of transit goods from Northern and Western Europe is still up in the air. This does not motivate Georgia and Caucasia, which focus on imports and have limited domestic cargo bases, to join the project. New southern members are interested, first of all, in the cargo base of road transporters, however, a harmonised tariff policy is needed for its development. Today, new participants join the project only after they agree to adhere to the single rate in tariff-kilometres introduced on the route. This, however, does not exclude implementation of special (favorable) conditions on some railway sections, if necessary. Perhaps, Belarus will choose to take such a step, because “Viking” is an important transit corridor for the country. As recognised by Vladislav Lembievsky, Deputy Director of Belintertrans (Belarusian operator of the project), transit makes not more than 8% of the total freight carried by the “Viking” train in the republic. Therefore, it is an untapped reserve, and its usage is considered as a priority. A similar problem is the priority for the “Viking” in general, but its solution is linked to a set of complex inter-state actions: the introduction of e-document circulation and through transport documents (CIS/SMGS consignment note), the unification of border crossing procedures and customs clearance; the optimisation of tariffs (with the introduction of a through rate). Otherwise, “Viking” can hardly count on new sources for its development.
By Vladimir Katkevich

quotation
Stasis Gudvalis, Deputy CEO – Director of the Directorate for Freight Transportation, Lithuanian Railways JSC:
– We are interested in other participants joining the “Viking” project, but we should specify on its terms. I think, the main one is the stability of conditions, on which the train has been operating for 10 years already. One must understand: when cargo transportation volume plummets does, as today, we must actively look for common interests and join forces to prove that we can compete with other transport modes.

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Attract and Keep

Since the launch of the project in 2003, the Lithuanian operator of the train Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways JSC) insisted that the transportation service must exist in the market regardless of how the route is loaded in practice – this is the pledge for expansion of the freight base, which was highly valued by the Lithuanian participant of the project, who considered it equal to the potential container turnover of the Klaipeda port, which dispatches up to 15% of its throughput by train. It took almost 10 years to persuade the Ukrainian partner Ukrzaliznytsia: only in 2012 did trains start to work on the Ukrainian section on timetable (earlier – in case there was cargo registered for transportation). “There was a regular timetable, but an obligatory condition for the train departure was at least 15 loaded container flat wagons. No cargo, no train departure. On the other hand, if there was no train, there was no cargo. Joint efforts allowed breaking this circle, and since the beginning of 2012 the train departed two times a week, and then, when the loading volume increased, - three times a week,” says Vasily Zubkov, Advisor to PLASKE, the Ukrainian operator of the train. The lack of a reliable timetable and, to a significant degree, the difficulty of Ukrainian customs and border procedures contributed to the imbalance in the development of the cargo loading volume on the route: the Belarusian – Lithuanian section developed actively, while the Ukrainian was loaded insufficiently. There was almost no through transportation between Lithuania and Ukraine, only the Ukraine – Belarus section was operating, mainly due to the freight from Belarus. Its basis was tractors produced by the Minsk Tractor Plant JSC destined for the Ilyichevsk port, and the backload was the rubber, carried via Ukraine as transit destined for Belshina OJSC. In other words, Ukraine didn’t provide the route with freight. However, they failed even to keep the Belarusian cargo because of the unstable tariff policy of Ukrzaliznytsia. “There were five increases in Ukrainian tariffs for the “Viking” only in 2008-2009 – three in 2008 and two in 2009,”says Vasily Yakimov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Ilyichevskvneshtrans CJSC. “Non-competitive tariff rates stopped transportation of tractor CKDs destined for Egypt via the Ilyichevsk port. The crisis also had some negative impact, but Belarusian production did not idle, and products left for the Klaipeda port, via the sea route from it to Alexandria is much longer.”
No wonder, the share of the Lithuanian – Belarusian section had exceeded 93% of the total loading volume of the “Viking” by 2012, while the share of through transportation was less than 2%. The year of 2012 was a milestone for Ukraine: Ukrzaliznytsia and the Ministry of Infrastructure took a number of steps to support the project. “There were three key factors equally important: a regular schedule, Ukrzaliznytsia’s discounts on container transportation, and opening additional stations to load the route,” explains Sergey Seroshtan, the Head of the Department for Railways at the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. Encouraging results appeared very soon: transportation on the “Viking” route with the participation of Ukrzaliznytsia grew 3.9-fold to 13,885 TEU in 2012. Meanwhile, the loading volume on the Belarus – Lithuania section fell 18.3% to 44,822 TEU, because of changes in the market situation (a decline in the imports of cars and car components to Belarus). Ukrzaliznytsia announced its readiness to attract new volumes of Lithuanian and Belarusian cargoes to the route, if border procedures were sped up. The Lithuanian side also constantly brings up the problem of delays at the Ukrainian border. At first, the Lithuanian operator mentioned it as a barrier preventing the development of the “Viking” route. After the situation began to improve, they started to focus on advantages of the “Viking” in comparison with road transport, for which crossing the border still remains a problem. According to Ukrainian operators of the “Viking” train, the average idle time of the train on the Ukrainian border varies between two and four hours, which is progress in comparison with the previous year, when delays lasted a day or even more.
The issue of reducing the time needed for border formalities to half an hour is on the agenda: the further growth of transportation on the Ukrainian section is hardly possible without it. However, only re-distribution of the existing route freight base seems to be possible in the future. “There is some definite potential of transportation by the “Viking” train from Belarus and the Baltic States to the Ukrainian ports, if the time needed for border control procedures reduces. However, it takes the customs an hour or more to check the “Viking” instead of 30-40 minutes,” Yury Merkulov, Head of the Main Commercial Department of Ukrzaliznytsia complained in May 2013. Simultaneously, the Ukrainian party will have to simplify the procedures for container transportation via ports. Even if these barriers are removed, the freight base in the area of the Odessa/Ilyichevsk – Klaipeda route is almost exhausted, and further growth will require the attraction of cargoes from external goods markets.

Reserves for Growth


Recently, the “Viking” participants thought that the most logical step to be made is the attraction of freight from sea container routes, because the positions of global transporters in the container ports of Lithuania and Ukraine became stronger. It is admitted today, however, that the “Viking” cannot compete with sea transport on the major alternative route via the Black Sea/the Mediterranean – the Baltic Sea round Europe. According to Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai, sea transportation from Turkey to Lithuania around Europe will cost 30% less than on-land transportation with the participation of the “Viking” (Turkey – Bulgaria – Romania – Moldova – Ukraine – Belarus - Lithuania), though it will take 20 days instead of 8. The idea to attract Chinese freight from direct ocean transport lines to the route seems to be of little promise, even despite the fact that during the period of toughening customs procedures in Ukrainian ports, Chinese imports switched from the Black Sea to by-passing routes, including that one to Klaipeda with further transportation of cargo to Ukraine via Belarus and Poland.
At the same time, Middle-East transit, carried by road, can switch to the “Viking” route. Transportation by road on the Turkey – Lithuania route costs €3,850, while that by the “Viking” train costs €1,400 for the 20-foot container and €2,065 for a 40-foot container. Delivery time is also comparable: 6 days by road transport, and 8 days by rail.
The intermodal version of the Turkey – Lithuania route, providing a rail-ferry service on the Black Sea and then – on the main route of the “Viking,” has some potential too. However, its cost is higher than that of the “Viking”, although it is cheaper than road transport – €2,010 for a 20-foot container and € 2,780 for a 40-foot one. The transportation time is 10 days. Of these, 78% is transportation by sea, but the number of land border crossings is minimised, and there is a basis for the use of the Agreement on Direct International Goods Transport by Rail (using the crossings with 1,520mm gauge in the Turkish port Derince). Taking into account the benefits of this variant, the Lithuanian side proposed the rail-ferry carrier Ukrferry reducing tariffs to the competitive level for the “Viking.” This initiative is a continuation of the dialogue between Lietuvos gelezinkeliai and Turkish representatives trying to fulfill the current major objective of the project - the expansion of its geography. Last April, Turkey announced about joining the “Viking” project, having signed a relevant memorandum with the Republic of Lithuania. Thus, after Bulgaria and Romania, Turkey became the third participant of the “Viking” development in the southern direction. A pioneer was BDZ Tovarnni Prevosi (BDZ Freight Transportation), which joined the project in December 2012, the second southern participant in the project is the Romanian national freight operator CFR MARFA (from February 2013). In May CFR MARFA entered into two agreements with Lietuvos gelezinkeliai - for freight forwarding and provision of logistics services. In June, Moldova joined the project, declaring rates for the “Viking” route. In summer, Ukrferry announced a reduction of tariffs on transportation in the area of the “Viking” project. “We made this step, because we saw the potential of attracting additional containerised cargoes to the “Viking” route.” Container transport is particularly interesting to us taking into account the decline in volumes transported by railcars,” said Alexander Kurlyand, President of Ukrferry.
Developing southwards lays the foundation for bringing transit from the Middle East to the “Viking” route. It is the only real source for boosting its cargo base now. The oncoming flow of transit goods from Northern and Western Europe is still up in the air. This does not motivate Georgia and Caucasia, which focus on imports and have limited domestic cargo bases, to join the project. New southern members are interested, first of all, in the cargo base of road transporters, however, a harmonised tariff policy is needed for its development. Today, new participants join the project only after they agree to adhere to the single rate in tariff-kilometres introduced on the route. This, however, does not exclude implementation of special (favorable) conditions on some railway sections, if necessary. Perhaps, Belarus will choose to take such a step, because “Viking” is an important transit corridor for the country. As recognised by Vladislav Lembievsky, Deputy Director of Belintertrans (Belarusian operator of the project), transit makes not more than 8% of the total freight carried by the “Viking” train in the republic. Therefore, it is an untapped reserve, and its usage is considered as a priority. A similar problem is the priority for the “Viking” in general, but its solution is linked to a set of complex inter-state actions: the introduction of e-document circulation and through transport documents (CIS/SMGS consignment note), the unification of border crossing procedures and customs clearance; the optimisation of tariffs (with the introduction of a through rate). Otherwise, “Viking” can hardly count on new sources for its development.
By Vladimir Katkevich

quotation
Stasis Gudvalis, Deputy CEO – Director of the Directorate for Freight Transportation, Lithuanian Railways JSC:
– We are interested in other participants joining the “Viking” project, but we should specify on its terms. I think, the main one is the stability of conditions, on which the train has been operating for 10 years already. One must understand: when cargo transportation volume plummets does, as today, we must actively look for common interests and join forces to prove that we can compete with other transport modes.

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The potential freight base of the “Viking” project (a container train linking the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is almost exhausted in the area of its initial route Lithuania – Belarus – Ukraine. Further works targeted at interstate development of the project will create new prospects, but their success depends on the participants’ being open to present-day integration processes.

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The potential freight base of the “Viking” project (a container train linking the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is almost exhausted in the area of its initial route Lithuania – Belarus – Ukraine. Further works targeted at interstate development of the project will create new prospects, but their success depends on the participants’ being open to present-day integration processes.

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РЖД-Партнер

Container Trains: Factors of Success

Container Trains:  Factors of Success

A positive dynamic in the sector of container trains has been observed in Russia in recent years. On the one hand, there are examples of long-term projects: The “Baltic-Transit” train celebrated its 10th anniversary in May 2013. On the other hand, new routes are being launched regularly, especially from China. What benefits do customers get from using container trains and what problems need to be solved to make this service as popular as possible?

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Focus on Speed 

One of the recently launched projects is the train on the Chengdu (China) – Lodz (Poland) route. The pilot train departed on April 26, 2013. It crossed the Chinese border at Alashankou (Kazakhstan), and then it travelled via Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus to its destination in Europe. The total length of the route is 9,826 km. It had been supposed that it would take the train 13 days to cover this distance. Although there was a two-day delay at Brest station the first time, the next trains reached the scheduled target. 33 container trains are to be organised on this route in 2013, and 44 in 2014.
Thanks to this project, the time for cargo transportation was reduced by a third in comparison with multimodal transportation by sea and rail, and the cost price – by three quarters in comparison with transportation by airlines. Despite its obvious advantages, it was very difficult to find a customer and persuade them to transport freight via the Trans-Siberian Mainline. Even now the train is not fully loaded. However, it is planned that the service will become more attractive for customers due to its regularity. In the opinion of Natalya Stepanova, First Deputy Head of the CCTT representative office in the RF, transit transportation time is of primary importance to customers.
Meanwhile, many experts think that the main barrier to the full utilisation of container trains is the price policy of the railway. Naming main problems faced by operators of container trains when launching the service, Sergey Kostyan, Vice President for Liner and Logistics Division at FESCO Transportation Group, mentions the uncompetitiveness of railway tariffs in comparison with those of road transport companies. 
Another negative factor is underdeveloped infrastructure in some sections, where different transport modes connect, or at the departure/destination points. “FESCO solves some of these problems at the expense of its own investments,” notes Mr Kostyan. “Thus, the container terminal in the Vladivostok port was developed, and a terminal complex in Moscow is being built.”
If the infrastructure is beyond FESCO’s control (for example, the development of the Vladivostok railway station), the company pays great attention to the technology of train formation, particularly, the local work at stations and terminals, implementation of special informational systems for real-time recording and control of the movement and condition of rolling stock at a train departure terminal; working with adjacent stations for receiving and servicing the rolling stock, and conclusion of contracts for its supply/removal, and maximum usage of double operations. 
On the whole, according to Mr Kostyan, express container trains are the most advanced products on the transport market. He separates two types of express container trains. The first is a train for a mono-client or a project cargo. An example is the service provided to automobile assembly plants or consumer electronics producers. In this case, the cargo and the customers are homogeneous. Most container trains currently plying RZD’s network fall into to this category.
The second and more complicated product is a public express train, which is formed of heterogeneous cargoes from many different customers. These are the projects, on which FESCO is focusing now. Its own regular service (FESCO Moscow Shuttle Vladivostok - Moscow) was first launched in March 2009. Nowadays, the company has seven key regular services of cargo transportation by block trains. Up to 25 trains dispatch weekly between Moscow, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk. One of the routes developed recently is Vladivostok – Yekaterinburg (FESCO Ural Shuttle), launched at the end of 2012. “The main problem to be solved by an operator is balancing the incoming and outgoing flows, because the success of the service is based on the work of ring trains with the minimum number of empty runs,” notes Mr Kostyan.

Indicators of Quality

Russia’s strategic partners for the development of container trains are Kazakhstan and the Baltic States. They, as well as other colleagues from the “1520 space”, are very interested in attracting new container cargo flows. Demonstration journeys of block container trains via the Northern corridor of the Trans-Asian railway began in 2001. These were joint projects between UNECE and the Organisation for Co-operation between Railways (OSJD). The block train speed amounted to 800-1,000 km per day; the tariff rate was 0.09 USD/TEU for a container-kilometre (Vladivostok – Buslovskaya, 2002) and 0.142 USD/TEU (China – Kazakhstan – Russia – Belarus – Poland – Germany, 2001).
“Our priority is container trains,” notes Zubaida Aspaeva, Chairman of the Commission for Freight Transportation at OSJD Committee. “To increase the efficiency of Eurasian railway routes, special attention is paid to the counties of Central Asia and the Caucasus, which have no direct sea access.”
Mongolia participated in the pilot project (Tianjin – Ulan-Bator, Ulan-Bator - Brest), then Kazakhstan joined (Urumqi – Hamburg, Shenzhen – Pardubice, Lianyungang – Asake/Ulugbek), and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will participate in 2013. In the words of Mrs Aspaeva, the main objective is to analyse different indicators – technical, commercial (the time, the cost, the level of services, including guaranteed transportation on timetable, cargo protection), and usage (the efficiency of the route in the long term). In the opinion of Guntis Mačs, Chairman of the Board of LDz Cargo, the advantages of container trains are a clear-cut timetable, an adjusted scheme on the whole route, an available special train-path, guaranteed provision of rolling stock, and a single information system.
The largest international project, in the development of which railway administrations for the Baltic States, Russia, and Kazakhstan participated, is the “Baltic-Transit” container train.  Its operator is FESCO Integrated Transport (FIT) LLC. The project is attractive because all railways involved in it and the train operator consolidate containers carried via the Baltic ports, and provide their further delivery to consignees. The train allows provision of a regular service of cargo delivery from American and European countries via all major Baltic ports (including Riga and Ventspils (Latvia), Tallinn, Muuga, and Paldiski (Estonia), Klaipeda (Lithuania)) destined for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and China. Trains depart two or three times a week.
In particular, regular transportation of containerised freight destined for Afghanistan via the so-called Northern Distribution Network to the troops, parts of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), started in 2009. The 100,000-th container was dispatched in June 2013. Over 123,000 TEU was carried by the “Baltic-Transit” train in the decade. Of which, 12,900 TEU was transported in 2012 (119 trains with the average length of not less than 57 conventional railcars). It was 3,000 TEU less than in the previous year. Valery Fokin, Operative Director at FIT, says the decline was caused by the reduction of consignments to Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. The main reasons were the decision of the ISAF to begin troop pullout from Afghanistan, and the increase in the customs tariffs on cars in Kazakhstan. 
“In the future, after NATO’s mission in Afghanistan is completed, we see potential for the development of transit transportation from/to Afghanistan. We think, the Northern corridor can be developed as a regular route for transportation of transit cargoes,” says Andris Maldups, Director of the Transit Policy Department at the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia.
Last year, from time to time, there appeared shortages of flat wagons, which were compensated for by using gondola cars. Project participants are working to constantly improve the quality of the service. In 2012, in accordance with the requirements of Russian customs bodies, FIT together with the Customs Broker Centre (a customs broker nominated by RZD) organised and put into operation a system for the control of accompanying documents and preliminary information for the customs bodies about the freight being carried by the train, registering the information and getting data about the registration of the transportation in the Main Research and Calculating Center of the Federal Customs Service. As a result of this work, there were no customs checks on freight carried by the train last year.
Meanwhile, Mr Fokin complains that there is no fully-fledged backload because of the imbalance between imports and exports of containerised cargo. Only the rolling stock, which delivered cargo to Afghanistan (Khairaton) can be used for transportation by rail from the country. The tariff policy of Uzbek Railways (O’zbekiston Temir Yo’llari) does not envisage the supply of empty railcars from Uzbekistan for loading in Afghanistan.
“To expand the transportation volumes of commercial cargoes and humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan, especially to its western provinces, our Afghani partners are adjusting the scheme of transportation to the Atamurat station (Turkmenistan) with further transportation by trucks to the Imamnazar (Turkmenistan) – Akina (Afghanistan) border crossing,” says V. Fokin.
Moreover, the experience of organising transit transportation of cargo to/from Afghanistan using the “Baltic-Transit” train allowed FIT in cooperation with the Volga-Dnepr airline to prepare and successfully implement a pilot multimodal transportation of containers on the route Great Britain – Latvia – Russia (Ulyanovsk) and then by plane to Afghanistan and back. It was done in accordance with the decisions made by the RF Government.

The Future Is Intermodal Services

Lithuania’s policy of container transit development is worth special attention. Except “Baltic-Transit”, Lithuania is crossed by such container trains as the “Viking” (Klaipeda – Minsk – Kiev - Ilyichevsk), the “Mercury” (Klaipeda/Kaliningrad – Minsk - Moscow), the “Saule” (Chongqing – Antwerp and Klaipeda – Gudogai –Ozinki - Almaty), the “Shyashtokai Express” (Northern Europe – Shyashtokai – Smolensk and back), and the “Vilnius Shuttle” (Vilnius – Klaipeda - Vilnius).
“Viking” celebrated its 10th anniversary in February 2013. In that decade, the train carried more than 347,000 TEU, of which 58,900 TEU was transported in 2012. The results of the “Mercury” train are more modest: 361 TEU in 2012. The plan for the train’s development envisages that it will make journeys every week instead of twice a month. Also, it is planned to increase the amount of freight carried by the “Saule” train (it carried 354 TEU in 2012).
The “Shayshtokai Express” project joins together partners from Western and Eastern Europe, Lithuania, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Participants in the service are such companies as Hupac, Intermodal Express, DB Schenker Rail Polska, and railway administrations of Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia. A unique feature of this project is Shyashtokai station, which is a point where the 1520/1435 track gauges change. Last year, the train transported 1,929 TEU.
“To accelerate and optimise logistics processes, we need to introduce and use information technologies and create intermodal logistics centers,” believes Tomas Kershis, Director of the Department for Commerce at the Freight Transportation Directorate of the Lithuanian Railways.
As a result, Lithuania intends to open public logistics centres (PLC). A contract for the construction of an intermodal terminal of Vilnius PLC was signed on May 14, 2013. The total cost of the facility is €40 million. The terminal will be near the Vaidotai railway station in Lithuania, via which container trains will move regularly. On May 23, a contract for the construction of an intermodal terminal of the Kaunas PLC was signed.
The terminals will be constructed in 17 and 14 months respectively. Having put them into operation, Lithuania will join the system of the EU logistics centres, therefore, getting an opportunity to distribute cargoes between different transport modes and join European information networks. Since public logistics centres will be constructed near important industrial regions and international transport corridors, crossing Lithuania, they will be key links in the Trans-European networks for different transport modes. It will contribute to the optimisation of the work of the European transport system and increase its competitiveness.
On the whole, Russia and other countries of the “1520 space” consider the development of container trains as a priority for the railways. The most important factor here is the cooperation between the railway administrations of the adjacent countries, as well as transport companies, and customs bodies. Currently, there is public apprehension that regular and reliable service can attract loyal clients.
By Elena Ushkova

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Focus on Speed 

One of the recently launched projects is the train on the Chengdu (China) – Lodz (Poland) route. The pilot train departed on April 26, 2013. It crossed the Chinese border at Alashankou (Kazakhstan), and then it travelled via Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus to its destination in Europe. The total length of the route is 9,826 km. It had been supposed that it would take the train 13 days to cover this distance. Although there was a two-day delay at Brest station the first time, the next trains reached the scheduled target. 33 container trains are to be organised on this route in 2013, and 44 in 2014.
Thanks to this project, the time for cargo transportation was reduced by a third in comparison with multimodal transportation by sea and rail, and the cost price – by three quarters in comparison with transportation by airlines. Despite its obvious advantages, it was very difficult to find a customer and persuade them to transport freight via the Trans-Siberian Mainline. Even now the train is not fully loaded. However, it is planned that the service will become more attractive for customers due to its regularity. In the opinion of Natalya Stepanova, First Deputy Head of the CCTT representative office in the RF, transit transportation time is of primary importance to customers.
Meanwhile, many experts think that the main barrier to the full utilisation of container trains is the price policy of the railway. Naming main problems faced by operators of container trains when launching the service, Sergey Kostyan, Vice President for Liner and Logistics Division at FESCO Transportation Group, mentions the uncompetitiveness of railway tariffs in comparison with those of road transport companies. 
Another negative factor is underdeveloped infrastructure in some sections, where different transport modes connect, or at the departure/destination points. “FESCO solves some of these problems at the expense of its own investments,” notes Mr Kostyan. “Thus, the container terminal in the Vladivostok port was developed, and a terminal complex in Moscow is being built.”
If the infrastructure is beyond FESCO’s control (for example, the development of the Vladivostok railway station), the company pays great attention to the technology of train formation, particularly, the local work at stations and terminals, implementation of special informational systems for real-time recording and control of the movement and condition of rolling stock at a train departure terminal; working with adjacent stations for receiving and servicing the rolling stock, and conclusion of contracts for its supply/removal, and maximum usage of double operations. 
On the whole, according to Mr Kostyan, express container trains are the most advanced products on the transport market. He separates two types of express container trains. The first is a train for a mono-client or a project cargo. An example is the service provided to automobile assembly plants or consumer electronics producers. In this case, the cargo and the customers are homogeneous. Most container trains currently plying RZD’s network fall into to this category.
The second and more complicated product is a public express train, which is formed of heterogeneous cargoes from many different customers. These are the projects, on which FESCO is focusing now. Its own regular service (FESCO Moscow Shuttle Vladivostok - Moscow) was first launched in March 2009. Nowadays, the company has seven key regular services of cargo transportation by block trains. Up to 25 trains dispatch weekly between Moscow, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk. One of the routes developed recently is Vladivostok – Yekaterinburg (FESCO Ural Shuttle), launched at the end of 2012. “The main problem to be solved by an operator is balancing the incoming and outgoing flows, because the success of the service is based on the work of ring trains with the minimum number of empty runs,” notes Mr Kostyan.

Indicators of Quality

Russia’s strategic partners for the development of container trains are Kazakhstan and the Baltic States. They, as well as other colleagues from the “1520 space”, are very interested in attracting new container cargo flows. Demonstration journeys of block container trains via the Northern corridor of the Trans-Asian railway began in 2001. These were joint projects between UNECE and the Organisation for Co-operation between Railways (OSJD). The block train speed amounted to 800-1,000 km per day; the tariff rate was 0.09 USD/TEU for a container-kilometre (Vladivostok – Buslovskaya, 2002) and 0.142 USD/TEU (China – Kazakhstan – Russia – Belarus – Poland – Germany, 2001).
“Our priority is container trains,” notes Zubaida Aspaeva, Chairman of the Commission for Freight Transportation at OSJD Committee. “To increase the efficiency of Eurasian railway routes, special attention is paid to the counties of Central Asia and the Caucasus, which have no direct sea access.”
Mongolia participated in the pilot project (Tianjin – Ulan-Bator, Ulan-Bator - Brest), then Kazakhstan joined (Urumqi – Hamburg, Shenzhen – Pardubice, Lianyungang – Asake/Ulugbek), and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will participate in 2013. In the words of Mrs Aspaeva, the main objective is to analyse different indicators – technical, commercial (the time, the cost, the level of services, including guaranteed transportation on timetable, cargo protection), and usage (the efficiency of the route in the long term). In the opinion of Guntis Mačs, Chairman of the Board of LDz Cargo, the advantages of container trains are a clear-cut timetable, an adjusted scheme on the whole route, an available special train-path, guaranteed provision of rolling stock, and a single information system.
The largest international project, in the development of which railway administrations for the Baltic States, Russia, and Kazakhstan participated, is the “Baltic-Transit” container train.  Its operator is FESCO Integrated Transport (FIT) LLC. The project is attractive because all railways involved in it and the train operator consolidate containers carried via the Baltic ports, and provide their further delivery to consignees. The train allows provision of a regular service of cargo delivery from American and European countries via all major Baltic ports (including Riga and Ventspils (Latvia), Tallinn, Muuga, and Paldiski (Estonia), Klaipeda (Lithuania)) destined for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and China. Trains depart two or three times a week.
In particular, regular transportation of containerised freight destined for Afghanistan via the so-called Northern Distribution Network to the troops, parts of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), started in 2009. The 100,000-th container was dispatched in June 2013. Over 123,000 TEU was carried by the “Baltic-Transit” train in the decade. Of which, 12,900 TEU was transported in 2012 (119 trains with the average length of not less than 57 conventional railcars). It was 3,000 TEU less than in the previous year. Valery Fokin, Operative Director at FIT, says the decline was caused by the reduction of consignments to Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. The main reasons were the decision of the ISAF to begin troop pullout from Afghanistan, and the increase in the customs tariffs on cars in Kazakhstan. 
“In the future, after NATO’s mission in Afghanistan is completed, we see potential for the development of transit transportation from/to Afghanistan. We think, the Northern corridor can be developed as a regular route for transportation of transit cargoes,” says Andris Maldups, Director of the Transit Policy Department at the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia.
Last year, from time to time, there appeared shortages of flat wagons, which were compensated for by using gondola cars. Project participants are working to constantly improve the quality of the service. In 2012, in accordance with the requirements of Russian customs bodies, FIT together with the Customs Broker Centre (a customs broker nominated by RZD) organised and put into operation a system for the control of accompanying documents and preliminary information for the customs bodies about the freight being carried by the train, registering the information and getting data about the registration of the transportation in the Main Research and Calculating Center of the Federal Customs Service. As a result of this work, there were no customs checks on freight carried by the train last year.
Meanwhile, Mr Fokin complains that there is no fully-fledged backload because of the imbalance between imports and exports of containerised cargo. Only the rolling stock, which delivered cargo to Afghanistan (Khairaton) can be used for transportation by rail from the country. The tariff policy of Uzbek Railways (O’zbekiston Temir Yo’llari) does not envisage the supply of empty railcars from Uzbekistan for loading in Afghanistan.
“To expand the transportation volumes of commercial cargoes and humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan, especially to its western provinces, our Afghani partners are adjusting the scheme of transportation to the Atamurat station (Turkmenistan) with further transportation by trucks to the Imamnazar (Turkmenistan) – Akina (Afghanistan) border crossing,” says V. Fokin.
Moreover, the experience of organising transit transportation of cargo to/from Afghanistan using the “Baltic-Transit” train allowed FIT in cooperation with the Volga-Dnepr airline to prepare and successfully implement a pilot multimodal transportation of containers on the route Great Britain – Latvia – Russia (Ulyanovsk) and then by plane to Afghanistan and back. It was done in accordance with the decisions made by the RF Government.

The Future Is Intermodal Services

Lithuania’s policy of container transit development is worth special attention. Except “Baltic-Transit”, Lithuania is crossed by such container trains as the “Viking” (Klaipeda – Minsk – Kiev - Ilyichevsk), the “Mercury” (Klaipeda/Kaliningrad – Minsk - Moscow), the “Saule” (Chongqing – Antwerp and Klaipeda – Gudogai –Ozinki - Almaty), the “Shyashtokai Express” (Northern Europe – Shyashtokai – Smolensk and back), and the “Vilnius Shuttle” (Vilnius – Klaipeda - Vilnius).
“Viking” celebrated its 10th anniversary in February 2013. In that decade, the train carried more than 347,000 TEU, of which 58,900 TEU was transported in 2012. The results of the “Mercury” train are more modest: 361 TEU in 2012. The plan for the train’s development envisages that it will make journeys every week instead of twice a month. Also, it is planned to increase the amount of freight carried by the “Saule” train (it carried 354 TEU in 2012).
The “Shayshtokai Express” project joins together partners from Western and Eastern Europe, Lithuania, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Participants in the service are such companies as Hupac, Intermodal Express, DB Schenker Rail Polska, and railway administrations of Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia. A unique feature of this project is Shyashtokai station, which is a point where the 1520/1435 track gauges change. Last year, the train transported 1,929 TEU.
“To accelerate and optimise logistics processes, we need to introduce and use information technologies and create intermodal logistics centers,” believes Tomas Kershis, Director of the Department for Commerce at the Freight Transportation Directorate of the Lithuanian Railways.
As a result, Lithuania intends to open public logistics centres (PLC). A contract for the construction of an intermodal terminal of Vilnius PLC was signed on May 14, 2013. The total cost of the facility is €40 million. The terminal will be near the Vaidotai railway station in Lithuania, via which container trains will move regularly. On May 23, a contract for the construction of an intermodal terminal of the Kaunas PLC was signed.
The terminals will be constructed in 17 and 14 months respectively. Having put them into operation, Lithuania will join the system of the EU logistics centres, therefore, getting an opportunity to distribute cargoes between different transport modes and join European information networks. Since public logistics centres will be constructed near important industrial regions and international transport corridors, crossing Lithuania, they will be key links in the Trans-European networks for different transport modes. It will contribute to the optimisation of the work of the European transport system and increase its competitiveness.
On the whole, Russia and other countries of the “1520 space” consider the development of container trains as a priority for the railways. The most important factor here is the cooperation between the railway administrations of the adjacent countries, as well as transport companies, and customs bodies. Currently, there is public apprehension that regular and reliable service can attract loyal clients.
By Elena Ushkova

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A positive dynamic in the sector of container trains has been observed in Russia in recent years. On the one hand, there are examples of long-term projects: The “Baltic-Transit” train celebrated its 10th anniversary in May 2013. On the other hand, new routes are being launched regularly, especially from China. What benefits do customers get from using container trains and what problems need to be solved to make this service as popular as possible?

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

A positive dynamic in the sector of container trains has been observed in Russia in recent years. On the one hand, there are examples of long-term projects: The “Baltic-Transit” train celebrated its 10th anniversary in May 2013. On the other hand, new routes are being launched regularly, especially from China. What benefits do customers get from using container trains and what problems need to be solved to make this service as popular as possible?

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Focus on Speed 

One of the recently launched projects is the train on the Chengdu (China) – Lodz (Poland) route. The pilot train departed on April 26, 2013. It crossed the Chinese border at Alashankou (Kazakhstan), and then it travelled via Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus to its destination in Europe. The total length of the route is 9,826 km. It had been supposed that it would take the train 13 days to cover this distance. Although there was a two-day delay at Brest station the first time, the next trains reached the scheduled target. 33 container trains are to be organised on this route in 2013, and 44 in 2014.
Thanks to this project, the time for cargo transportation was reduced by a third in comparison with multimodal transportation by sea and rail, and the cost price – by three quarters in comparison with transportation by airlines. Despite its obvious advantages, it was very difficult to find a customer and persuade them to transport freight via the Trans-Siberian Mainline. Even now the train is not fully loaded. However, it is planned that the service will become more attractive for customers due to its regularity. In the opinion of Natalya Stepanova, First Deputy Head of the CCTT representative office in the RF, transit transportation time is of primary importance to customers.
Meanwhile, many experts think that the main barrier to the full utilisation of container trains is the price policy of the railway. Naming main problems faced by operators of container trains when launching the service, Sergey Kostyan, Vice President for Liner and Logistics Division at FESCO Transportation Group, mentions the uncompetitiveness of railway tariffs in comparison with those of road transport companies. 
Another negative factor is underdeveloped infrastructure in some sections, where different transport modes connect, or at the departure/destination points. “FESCO solves some of these problems at the expense of its own investments,” notes Mr Kostyan. “Thus, the container terminal in the Vladivostok port was developed, and a terminal complex in Moscow is being built.”
If the infrastructure is beyond FESCO’s control (for example, the development of the Vladivostok railway station), the company pays great attention to the technology of train formation, particularly, the local work at stations and terminals, implementation of special informational systems for real-time recording and control of the movement and condition of rolling stock at a train departure terminal; working with adjacent stations for receiving and servicing the rolling stock, and conclusion of contracts for its supply/removal, and maximum usage of double operations. 
On the whole, according to Mr Kostyan, express container trains are the most advanced products on the transport market. He separates two types of express container trains. The first is a train for a mono-client or a project cargo. An example is the service provided to automobile assembly plants or consumer electronics producers. In this case, the cargo and the customers are homogeneous. Most container trains currently plying RZD’s network fall into to this category.
The second and more complicated product is a public express train, which is formed of heterogeneous cargoes from many different customers. These are the projects, on which FESCO is focusing now. Its own regular service (FESCO Moscow Shuttle Vladivostok - Moscow) was first launched in March 2009. Nowadays, the company has seven key regular services of cargo transportation by block trains. Up to 25 trains dispatch weekly between Moscow, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk. One of the routes developed recently is Vladivostok – Yekaterinburg (FESCO Ural Shuttle), launched at the end of 2012. “The main problem to be solved by an operator is balancing the incoming and outgoing flows, because the success of the service is based on the work of ring trains with the minimum number of empty runs,” notes Mr Kostyan.

Indicators of Quality

Russia’s strategic partners for the development of container trains are Kazakhstan and the Baltic States. They, as well as other colleagues from the “1520 space”, are very interested in attracting new container cargo flows. Demonstration journeys of block container trains via the Northern corridor of the Trans-Asian railway began in 2001. These were joint projects between UNECE and the Organisation for Co-operation between Railways (OSJD). The block train speed amounted to 800-1,000 km per day; the tariff rate was 0.09 USD/TEU for a container-kilometre (Vladivostok – Buslovskaya, 2002) and 0.142 USD/TEU (China – Kazakhstan – Russia – Belarus – Poland – Germany, 2001).
“Our priority is container trains,” notes Zubaida Aspaeva, Chairman of the Commission for Freight Transportation at OSJD Committee. “To increase the efficiency of Eurasian railway routes, special attention is paid to the counties of Central Asia and the Caucasus, which have no direct sea access.”
Mongolia participated in the pilot project (Tianjin – Ulan-Bator, Ulan-Bator - Brest), then Kazakhstan joined (Urumqi – Hamburg, Shenzhen – Pardubice, Lianyungang – Asake/Ulugbek), and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will participate in 2013. In the words of Mrs Aspaeva, the main objective is to analyse different indicators – technical, commercial (the time, the cost, the level of services, including guaranteed transportation on timetable, cargo protection), and usage (the efficiency of the route in the long term). In the opinion of Guntis Mačs, Chairman of the Board of LDz Cargo, the advantages of container trains are a clear-cut timetable, an adjusted scheme on the whole route, an available special train-path, guaranteed provision of rolling stock, and a single information system.
The largest international project, in the development of which railway administrations for the Baltic States, Russia, and Kazakhstan participated, is the “Baltic-Transit” container train.  Its operator is FESCO Integrated Transport (FIT) LLC. The project is attractive because all railways involved in it and the train operator consolidate containers carried via the Baltic ports, and provide their further delivery to consignees. The train allows provision of a regular service of cargo delivery from American and European countries via all major Baltic ports (including Riga and Ventspils (Latvia), Tallinn, Muuga, and Paldiski (Estonia), Klaipeda (Lithuania)) destined for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and China. Trains depart two or three times a week.
In particular, regular transportation of containerised freight destined for Afghanistan via the so-called Northern Distribution Network to the troops, parts of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), started in 2009. The 100,000-th container was dispatched in June 2013. Over 123,000 TEU was carried by the “Baltic-Transit” train in the decade. Of which, 12,900 TEU was transported in 2012 (119 trains with the average length of not less than 57 conventional railcars). It was 3,000 TEU less than in the previous year. Valery Fokin, Operative Director at FIT, says the decline was caused by the reduction of consignments to Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. The main reasons were the decision of the ISAF to begin troop pullout from Afghanistan, and the increase in the customs tariffs on cars in Kazakhstan. 
“In the future, after NATO’s mission in Afghanistan is completed, we see potential for the development of transit transportation from/to Afghanistan. We think, the Northern corridor can be developed as a regular route for transportation of transit cargoes,” says Andris Maldups, Director of the Transit Policy Department at the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia.
Last year, from time to time, there appeared shortages of flat wagons, which were compensated for by using gondola cars. Project participants are working to constantly improve the quality of the service. In 2012, in accordance with the requirements of Russian customs bodies, FIT together with the Customs Broker Centre (a customs broker nominated by RZD) organised and put into operation a system for the control of accompanying documents and preliminary information for the customs bodies about the freight being carried by the train, registering the information and getting data about the registration of the transportation in the Main Research and Calculating Center of the Federal Customs Service. As a result of this work, there were no customs checks on freight carried by the train last year.
Meanwhile, Mr Fokin complains that there is no fully-fledged backload because of the imbalance between imports and exports of containerised cargo. Only the rolling stock, which delivered cargo to Afghanistan (Khairaton) can be used for transportation by rail from the country. The tariff policy of Uzbek Railways (O’zbekiston Temir Yo’llari) does not envisage the supply of empty railcars from Uzbekistan for loading in Afghanistan.
“To expand the transportation volumes of commercial cargoes and humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan, especially to its western provinces, our Afghani partners are adjusting the scheme of transportation to the Atamurat station (Turkmenistan) with further transportation by trucks to the Imamnazar (Turkmenistan) – Akina (Afghanistan) border crossing,” says V. Fokin.
Moreover, the experience of organising transit transportation of cargo to/from Afghanistan using the “Baltic-Transit” train allowed FIT in cooperation with the Volga-Dnepr airline to prepare and successfully implement a pilot multimodal transportation of containers on the route Great Britain – Latvia – Russia (Ulyanovsk) and then by plane to Afghanistan and back. It was done in accordance with the decisions made by the RF Government.

The Future Is Intermodal Services

Lithuania’s policy of container transit development is worth special attention. Except “Baltic-Transit”, Lithuania is crossed by such container trains as the “Viking” (Klaipeda – Minsk – Kiev - Ilyichevsk), the “Mercury” (Klaipeda/Kaliningrad – Minsk - Moscow), the “Saule” (Chongqing – Antwerp and Klaipeda – Gudogai –Ozinki - Almaty), the “Shyashtokai Express” (Northern Europe – Shyashtokai – Smolensk and back), and the “Vilnius Shuttle” (Vilnius – Klaipeda - Vilnius).
“Viking” celebrated its 10th anniversary in February 2013. In that decade, the train carried more than 347,000 TEU, of which 58,900 TEU was transported in 2012. The results of the “Mercury” train are more modest: 361 TEU in 2012. The plan for the train’s development envisages that it will make journeys every week instead of twice a month. Also, it is planned to increase the amount of freight carried by the “Saule” train (it carried 354 TEU in 2012).
The “Shayshtokai Express” project joins together partners from Western and Eastern Europe, Lithuania, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Participants in the service are such companies as Hupac, Intermodal Express, DB Schenker Rail Polska, and railway administrations of Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia. A unique feature of this project is Shyashtokai station, which is a point where the 1520/1435 track gauges change. Last year, the train transported 1,929 TEU.
“To accelerate and optimise logistics processes, we need to introduce and use information technologies and create intermodal logistics centers,” believes Tomas Kershis, Director of the Department for Commerce at the Freight Transportation Directorate of the Lithuanian Railways.
As a result, Lithuania intends to open public logistics centres (PLC). A contract for the construction of an intermodal terminal of Vilnius PLC was signed on May 14, 2013. The total cost of the facility is €40 million. The terminal will be near the Vaidotai railway station in Lithuania, via which container trains will move regularly. On May 23, a contract for the construction of an intermodal terminal of the Kaunas PLC was signed.
The terminals will be constructed in 17 and 14 months respectively. Having put them into operation, Lithuania will join the system of the EU logistics centres, therefore, getting an opportunity to distribute cargoes between different transport modes and join European information networks. Since public logistics centres will be constructed near important industrial regions and international transport corridors, crossing Lithuania, they will be key links in the Trans-European networks for different transport modes. It will contribute to the optimisation of the work of the European transport system and increase its competitiveness.
On the whole, Russia and other countries of the “1520 space” consider the development of container trains as a priority for the railways. The most important factor here is the cooperation between the railway administrations of the adjacent countries, as well as transport companies, and customs bodies. Currently, there is public apprehension that regular and reliable service can attract loyal clients.
By Elena Ushkova

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Focus on Speed 

One of the recently launched projects is the train on the Chengdu (China) – Lodz (Poland) route. The pilot train departed on April 26, 2013. It crossed the Chinese border at Alashankou (Kazakhstan), and then it travelled via Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus to its destination in Europe. The total length of the route is 9,826 km. It had been supposed that it would take the train 13 days to cover this distance. Although there was a two-day delay at Brest station the first time, the next trains reached the scheduled target. 33 container trains are to be organised on this route in 2013, and 44 in 2014.
Thanks to this project, the time for cargo transportation was reduced by a third in comparison with multimodal transportation by sea and rail, and the cost price – by three quarters in comparison with transportation by airlines. Despite its obvious advantages, it was very difficult to find a customer and persuade them to transport freight via the Trans-Siberian Mainline. Even now the train is not fully loaded. However, it is planned that the service will become more attractive for customers due to its regularity. In the opinion of Natalya Stepanova, First Deputy Head of the CCTT representative office in the RF, transit transportation time is of primary importance to customers.
Meanwhile, many experts think that the main barrier to the full utilisation of container trains is the price policy of the railway. Naming main problems faced by operators of container trains when launching the service, Sergey Kostyan, Vice President for Liner and Logistics Division at FESCO Transportation Group, mentions the uncompetitiveness of railway tariffs in comparison with those of road transport companies. 
Another negative factor is underdeveloped infrastructure in some sections, where different transport modes connect, or at the departure/destination points. “FESCO solves some of these problems at the expense of its own investments,” notes Mr Kostyan. “Thus, the container terminal in the Vladivostok port was developed, and a terminal complex in Moscow is being built.”
If the infrastructure is beyond FESCO’s control (for example, the development of the Vladivostok railway station), the company pays great attention to the technology of train formation, particularly, the local work at stations and terminals, implementation of special informational systems for real-time recording and control of the movement and condition of rolling stock at a train departure terminal; working with adjacent stations for receiving and servicing the rolling stock, and conclusion of contracts for its supply/removal, and maximum usage of double operations. 
On the whole, according to Mr Kostyan, express container trains are the most advanced products on the transport market. He separates two types of express container trains. The first is a train for a mono-client or a project cargo. An example is the service provided to automobile assembly plants or consumer electronics producers. In this case, the cargo and the customers are homogeneous. Most container trains currently plying RZD’s network fall into to this category.
The second and more complicated product is a public express train, which is formed of heterogeneous cargoes from many different customers. These are the projects, on which FESCO is focusing now. Its own regular service (FESCO Moscow Shuttle Vladivostok - Moscow) was first launched in March 2009. Nowadays, the company has seven key regular services of cargo transportation by block trains. Up to 25 trains dispatch weekly between Moscow, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk. One of the routes developed recently is Vladivostok – Yekaterinburg (FESCO Ural Shuttle), launched at the end of 2012. “The main problem to be solved by an operator is balancing the incoming and outgoing flows, because the success of the service is based on the work of ring trains with the minimum number of empty runs,” notes Mr Kostyan.

Indicators of Quality

Russia’s strategic partners for the development of container trains are Kazakhstan and the Baltic States. They, as well as other colleagues from the “1520 space”, are very interested in attracting new container cargo flows. Demonstration journeys of block container trains via the Northern corridor of the Trans-Asian railway began in 2001. These were joint projects between UNECE and the Organisation for Co-operation between Railways (OSJD). The block train speed amounted to 800-1,000 km per day; the tariff rate was 0.09 USD/TEU for a container-kilometre (Vladivostok – Buslovskaya, 2002) and 0.142 USD/TEU (China – Kazakhstan – Russia – Belarus – Poland – Germany, 2001).
“Our priority is container trains,” notes Zubaida Aspaeva, Chairman of the Commission for Freight Transportation at OSJD Committee. “To increase the efficiency of Eurasian railway routes, special attention is paid to the counties of Central Asia and the Caucasus, which have no direct sea access.”
Mongolia participated in the pilot project (Tianjin – Ulan-Bator, Ulan-Bator - Brest), then Kazakhstan joined (Urumqi – Hamburg, Shenzhen – Pardubice, Lianyungang – Asake/Ulugbek), and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will participate in 2013. In the words of Mrs Aspaeva, the main objective is to analyse different indicators – technical, commercial (the time, the cost, the level of services, including guaranteed transportation on timetable, cargo protection), and usage (the efficiency of the route in the long term). In the opinion of Guntis Mačs, Chairman of the Board of LDz Cargo, the advantages of container trains are a clear-cut timetable, an adjusted scheme on the whole route, an available special train-path, guaranteed provision of rolling stock, and a single information system.
The largest international project, in the development of which railway administrations for the Baltic States, Russia, and Kazakhstan participated, is the “Baltic-Transit” container train.  Its operator is FESCO Integrated Transport (FIT) LLC. The project is attractive because all railways involved in it and the train operator consolidate containers carried via the Baltic ports, and provide their further delivery to consignees. The train allows provision of a regular service of cargo delivery from American and European countries via all major Baltic ports (including Riga and Ventspils (Latvia), Tallinn, Muuga, and Paldiski (Estonia), Klaipeda (Lithuania)) destined for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and China. Trains depart two or three times a week.
In particular, regular transportation of containerised freight destined for Afghanistan via the so-called Northern Distribution Network to the troops, parts of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), started in 2009. The 100,000-th container was dispatched in June 2013. Over 123,000 TEU was carried by the “Baltic-Transit” train in the decade. Of which, 12,900 TEU was transported in 2012 (119 trains with the average length of not less than 57 conventional railcars). It was 3,000 TEU less than in the previous year. Valery Fokin, Operative Director at FIT, says the decline was caused by the reduction of consignments to Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. The main reasons were the decision of the ISAF to begin troop pullout from Afghanistan, and the increase in the customs tariffs on cars in Kazakhstan. 
“In the future, after NATO’s mission in Afghanistan is completed, we see potential for the development of transit transportation from/to Afghanistan. We think, the Northern corridor can be developed as a regular route for transportation of transit cargoes,” says Andris Maldups, Director of the Transit Policy Department at the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia.
Last year, from time to time, there appeared shortages of flat wagons, which were compensated for by using gondola cars. Project participants are working to constantly improve the quality of the service. In 2012, in accordance with the requirements of Russian customs bodies, FIT together with the Customs Broker Centre (a customs broker nominated by RZD) organised and put into operation a system for the control of accompanying documents and preliminary information for the customs bodies about the freight being carried by the train, registering the information and getting data about the registration of the transportation in the Main Research and Calculating Center of the Federal Customs Service. As a result of this work, there were no customs checks on freight carried by the train last year.
Meanwhile, Mr Fokin complains that there is no fully-fledged backload because of the imbalance between imports and exports of containerised cargo. Only the rolling stock, which delivered cargo to Afghanistan (Khairaton) can be used for transportation by rail from the country. The tariff policy of Uzbek Railways (O’zbekiston Temir Yo’llari) does not envisage the supply of empty railcars from Uzbekistan for loading in Afghanistan.
“To expand the transportation volumes of commercial cargoes and humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan, especially to its western provinces, our Afghani partners are adjusting the scheme of transportation to the Atamurat station (Turkmenistan) with further transportation by trucks to the Imamnazar (Turkmenistan) – Akina (Afghanistan) border crossing,” says V. Fokin.
Moreover, the experience of organising transit transportation of cargo to/from Afghanistan using the “Baltic-Transit” train allowed FIT in cooperation with the Volga-Dnepr airline to prepare and successfully implement a pilot multimodal transportation of containers on the route Great Britain – Latvia – Russia (Ulyanovsk) and then by plane to Afghanistan and back. It was done in accordance with the decisions made by the RF Government.

The Future Is Intermodal Services

Lithuania’s policy of container transit development is worth special attention. Except “Baltic-Transit”, Lithuania is crossed by such container trains as the “Viking” (Klaipeda – Minsk – Kiev - Ilyichevsk), the “Mercury” (Klaipeda/Kaliningrad – Minsk - Moscow), the “Saule” (Chongqing – Antwerp and Klaipeda – Gudogai –Ozinki - Almaty), the “Shyashtokai Express” (Northern Europe – Shyashtokai – Smolensk and back), and the “Vilnius Shuttle” (Vilnius – Klaipeda - Vilnius).
“Viking” celebrated its 10th anniversary in February 2013. In that decade, the train carried more than 347,000 TEU, of which 58,900 TEU was transported in 2012. The results of the “Mercury” train are more modest: 361 TEU in 2012. The plan for the train’s development envisages that it will make journeys every week instead of twice a month. Also, it is planned to increase the amount of freight carried by the “Saule” train (it carried 354 TEU in 2012).
The “Shayshtokai Express” project joins together partners from Western and Eastern Europe, Lithuania, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Participants in the service are such companies as Hupac, Intermodal Express, DB Schenker Rail Polska, and railway administrations of Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia. A unique feature of this project is Shyashtokai station, which is a point where the 1520/1435 track gauges change. Last year, the train transported 1,929 TEU.
“To accelerate and optimise logistics processes, we need to introduce and use information technologies and create intermodal logistics centers,” believes Tomas Kershis, Director of the Department for Commerce at the Freight Transportation Directorate of the Lithuanian Railways.
As a result, Lithuania intends to open public logistics centres (PLC). A contract for the construction of an intermodal terminal of Vilnius PLC was signed on May 14, 2013. The total cost of the facility is €40 million. The terminal will be near the Vaidotai railway station in Lithuania, via which container trains will move regularly. On May 23, a contract for the construction of an intermodal terminal of the Kaunas PLC was signed.
The terminals will be constructed in 17 and 14 months respectively. Having put them into operation, Lithuania will join the system of the EU logistics centres, therefore, getting an opportunity to distribute cargoes between different transport modes and join European information networks. Since public logistics centres will be constructed near important industrial regions and international transport corridors, crossing Lithuania, they will be key links in the Trans-European networks for different transport modes. It will contribute to the optimisation of the work of the European transport system and increase its competitiveness.
On the whole, Russia and other countries of the “1520 space” consider the development of container trains as a priority for the railways. The most important factor here is the cooperation between the railway administrations of the adjacent countries, as well as transport companies, and customs bodies. Currently, there is public apprehension that regular and reliable service can attract loyal clients.
By Elena Ushkova

[DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [~DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

A positive dynamic in the sector of container trains has been observed in Russia in recent years. On the one hand, there are examples of long-term projects: The “Baltic-Transit” train celebrated its 10th anniversary in May 2013. On the other hand, new routes are being launched regularly, especially from China. What benefits do customers get from using container trains and what problems need to be solved to make this service as popular as possible?

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

A positive dynamic in the sector of container trains has been observed in Russia in recent years. On the one hand, there are examples of long-term projects: The “Baltic-Transit” train celebrated its 10th anniversary in May 2013. On the other hand, new routes are being launched regularly, especially from China. What benefits do customers get from using container trains and what problems need to be solved to make this service as popular as possible?

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РЖД-Партнер

Cargo Transportation Volume: a Slight Decline

Cargo Transportation Volume:  a Slight Decline

In the first half of the year there was more than a 3% decline in the cargo loading volumes on the Russian railway network. These figures can be explained by the unfavourable global market situation, a common slowdown in the rates of economic growth, and other factors.

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External Demand Is Weakened

In January-June 2013, the cargo transportation volume on RZD’s network failed to show better results than in the same period of the previous year. There was a decrease in loading volumes of almost all cargoes, except containerised freight (+0.2%), chemicals and mineral fertilizers (+0.8%), coal (+0.8%), and iron and manganese ore (+0.6%).
The most significant decline was in the transportation of mid- and high-yielding cargoes (-11% and -5% respectively). Earlier the situation in the low-yielding freight transportation sector showed improvements across all cargo sectors, but in 2013 its dynamics were negative, particularly because of the on-going reduction in the transportation of construction materials (over 5% in the first half of 2013). The only ray of light was coal: its transportation volume even increased in comparison with the same period of the previous year. Naturally, this situation cannot be considered favourable, and specialists think that many reasons for such a “moody” season are beyond RZD’s network.
The last three years were favourable for the Russian economy, especially for the railway sector. A stable growth of the GDP (3-5% per annum) and cargo loading volumes (approximately 4.5%) were possible first of all due to a very favourable situation in the global goods and raw material markets. In addition, there were a number of other obstacles – from the unstable situation in the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa to floods in Australia and problems in the nuclear energy sector, which contributed to the increase in demand for Russian raw materials.
Naturally, this couldn’t continue forever, and the record numbers in coal extraction or exports of ferrous metals cannot be repeated every year. Post-recession recovery of the world economy began to slow down back in 2011, besides, the activity in the consumer markets attracted new suppliers. Amid the plans made by famous and new players about the expansion of the extraction and, consequently, supplies, consumers become more and more selective. In other words, the size of the cake slightly increased in 2013, but the number of claimants for it also grew.
For example, the volume of steel produced globally in January – May increased by 2.1% year-on-year, especially due to the growth in the Asian countries (+5.9%). The rest of the regions reduced the volume of casting (the EU states – by 5.7%, Northern America – by 6.2%, and the CIS – by 4%). Meanwhile, experts say that the actual consumption volume slightly increased (in the range of 0.5% to 2.5%), and the market grows due to the backlog of demand.
“The recovery of the transportation of ferrous metals by rail is prevented by a decline in demand and a bad market situation,” thinks Alexander Sapronov, Vice President for Logistics at Novolipetsk Steel. “The situation grows worse: an unfavourable market situation contributes to an increase in the competition at sales markets, and things become even more complicated because of the surplus of production capacities in the world.”
Meanwhile, forecasts are cautiously optimistic. For example, according to the World Steel Association, production volumes of ferrous metals will increase by 3.5% this year (the amount of steel will grow by 2.9% only in comparison with 2012).
On the other hand, the surplus of production capacities is 20-30%, therefore, the market situation will hardly improve even if the optimistic outlook for the second half of the year comes to pass.
Chinese steelworkers can find support in their domestic market (consumption increased by 3.5% year-on-year), but Russian companies can’t. The demand at the Russian market fell 1.6%, and experts are rather cautious about the prospects for a revival in the summer.
“Unlike recent years, there are no powerful drivers able to stimulate a market recovery,” says A. Sapronov. “The construction of large Olympic facilities, for which metal was needed, is almost completed, and there are no projects similar to them in scale. It should be taken into account when making forecasts about the transportation of products of the steel industry.”
In the opinion of the expert, the seasonality of the construction sector magnifies the need for various steel products (reinforced metal, bars, etc.), however, the situation in the sector is ambivalent. Still, there is some recovery in the construction sector (about 3-4%), while the machine building sector lost the status as the driver of the demand for metal. The production volume of cars in Russia fell 2.4% year-on-year, and the dynamics of other segments of the machine building sector are practically the same.
A similar situation is observed in the coal sector, where amid a 2-3% growth in consumption, supplies from Australia, the USA, Colombia, etc. became active. All these trends are characteristic of other raw material markets.
Obviously, the year of 2013 will not be easy for the Russian economy. According to Morgan Stanley bank, a there is a long-term global reduction in demand for steel of up to +3% per annum (+5% in the last decade). There are similar forecasts for other goods and commodity markets.

Increased Competition among Transport Companies

Nevertheless, the macroeconomic situation does not fully reflect the dynamics of transportation on RZD network. The common negative trend, naturally, has a serious impact, but the influence of sectoral problems is obvious. Analysing the dynamics of the manufacture of some products and their transportation volumes, it can be seen that there is a negative trend for the Russian railway network.
According to the Russian Federal Statistics Service, in January-June 2013 the industrial production index increased by 0.1% in comparison with the first half of the previous year (the volume of transportation by rail reduced by 3% in this period).  In most cases the decline in the production volume was smaller than comparative sectors of transportation by rail, and the positive effect on the railway network is more moderate.
The reasons are not a secret: the “pie effect” observed in the industry presents in the transport sector either. The amount of service providers has increased, and the need for transportation reduces. The competition for cargoes has become tougher, and railwaymen don’t always win in it.
In addition to systemic problems, there are tactical problems. These are the reserves, which can and must be used to improve the sector’s statistics. For example, a number of producers of non-ore materials complain about the asynchronous work of employees of RZD’s traffic and repair divisions, therefore, there appears a decline in the loading volume.
“Empty or loaded railcars often arrive when there is no gap in the timetable, so trains have to idle a day or more, and we just do not have an opportunity to compensate for the delays,” notes Alexey Labyrin, Head of the Logistics Department at National Non-Ore Company. “Our limited loading capacities are not the only problem. The transporter lacks traction resources, and if they fail to provide us with a locomotive on Monday because of some track maintenance works, it does not mean that we will get two locomotives on Tuesday.”
The expert says that such difficulties are traditional in summer time, but this year the value of the matter in dispute is especially high. The demand was stable earlier and increased stage-by-stage when the season began, but now, when the construction market is weak, any delay can lead to the breaking of a contract. We’d like to emphasise that what is meant here is crushed stone, which is traditionally transported by rail.
Potential losses seem to be more serious in sectors, where the competition is more significant. “The adjustment of transportation of additional volumes is a very difficult process. We understand the difficulties, which emerge when unplanned requests for transportation are serviced, but we cannot refuse a client, and we make a decision according to the situation, which often means a search for alternative means of transportation,” says Oleg Smolensky, Deputy CEO at ProfCement-Vector LLC. Also, he points to the division of consignments into several parts, which sometimes can hardly be explained. Small consignments of 20-30 railcars are divided into smaller ones, and hardly any customer likes it.
As a reminder, cooling in relations between cement producers and railwaymen began neither this year nor in 2012. For example, up to 80% of products made in Russia were carried by rail in 2009, but in the first half of 2013 the amount fell to 60% and less. Despite popular opinion, statistics do not show the whole story.     

More Attention to Details

Grain transportation volumes are doomed to be smaller than in 2012, when high results were achieved due to removal of the ban on grain exports. Neither the pricing environment nor other factors will stimulate the growth of exports this summer. However, representatives of small grain elevators complain that it is difficult to get ready for a new season, because removing old stocks becomes a problem. Supplies of empty rolling stock for loading are irregular, and companies are not able to load arriving groups of railcars sometimes, because their amount exceeds the capacities of the infrastructure. It is reminiscent of the complaints of iron and steel companies, which faced the problem of irregular transportation, sometimes even by block trains, amid weak demand for their products.
A lot of representatives of the industry say that deliveries of empty or loaded railcars mismatch the actual needs for rolling stock. For the railway, the problem-2013 is that a cargo owner does not have to wait for a railcar. A truck (for cars, grain, cement, or any other cargo) will arrive and transport everything that cannot be carried by rail at this moment, although it can be more expensive and needs more time.   
One should understand that the boom years, when the demand for railway transportation services was very large, have passed. Now it is the time of the competition for a customer, when any logistics solution is not predetermined. It is crucially important to avoid mismatches and provide a high-quality service. What used to stay at storage waiting for a next train is now carried by river shipping companies and road hauliers.
Statistics prove the thesis that railways carry less cargo amid weakening markets. Let’s hope, it is just the first round, and results of the year will be more cheerful for Russian Railways. ®
By Dmitry Khantsevich

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

External Demand Is Weakened

In January-June 2013, the cargo transportation volume on RZD’s network failed to show better results than in the same period of the previous year. There was a decrease in loading volumes of almost all cargoes, except containerised freight (+0.2%), chemicals and mineral fertilizers (+0.8%), coal (+0.8%), and iron and manganese ore (+0.6%).
The most significant decline was in the transportation of mid- and high-yielding cargoes (-11% and -5% respectively). Earlier the situation in the low-yielding freight transportation sector showed improvements across all cargo sectors, but in 2013 its dynamics were negative, particularly because of the on-going reduction in the transportation of construction materials (over 5% in the first half of 2013). The only ray of light was coal: its transportation volume even increased in comparison with the same period of the previous year. Naturally, this situation cannot be considered favourable, and specialists think that many reasons for such a “moody” season are beyond RZD’s network.
The last three years were favourable for the Russian economy, especially for the railway sector. A stable growth of the GDP (3-5% per annum) and cargo loading volumes (approximately 4.5%) were possible first of all due to a very favourable situation in the global goods and raw material markets. In addition, there were a number of other obstacles – from the unstable situation in the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa to floods in Australia and problems in the nuclear energy sector, which contributed to the increase in demand for Russian raw materials.
Naturally, this couldn’t continue forever, and the record numbers in coal extraction or exports of ferrous metals cannot be repeated every year. Post-recession recovery of the world economy began to slow down back in 2011, besides, the activity in the consumer markets attracted new suppliers. Amid the plans made by famous and new players about the expansion of the extraction and, consequently, supplies, consumers become more and more selective. In other words, the size of the cake slightly increased in 2013, but the number of claimants for it also grew.
For example, the volume of steel produced globally in January – May increased by 2.1% year-on-year, especially due to the growth in the Asian countries (+5.9%). The rest of the regions reduced the volume of casting (the EU states – by 5.7%, Northern America – by 6.2%, and the CIS – by 4%). Meanwhile, experts say that the actual consumption volume slightly increased (in the range of 0.5% to 2.5%), and the market grows due to the backlog of demand.
“The recovery of the transportation of ferrous metals by rail is prevented by a decline in demand and a bad market situation,” thinks Alexander Sapronov, Vice President for Logistics at Novolipetsk Steel. “The situation grows worse: an unfavourable market situation contributes to an increase in the competition at sales markets, and things become even more complicated because of the surplus of production capacities in the world.”
Meanwhile, forecasts are cautiously optimistic. For example, according to the World Steel Association, production volumes of ferrous metals will increase by 3.5% this year (the amount of steel will grow by 2.9% only in comparison with 2012).
On the other hand, the surplus of production capacities is 20-30%, therefore, the market situation will hardly improve even if the optimistic outlook for the second half of the year comes to pass.
Chinese steelworkers can find support in their domestic market (consumption increased by 3.5% year-on-year), but Russian companies can’t. The demand at the Russian market fell 1.6%, and experts are rather cautious about the prospects for a revival in the summer.
“Unlike recent years, there are no powerful drivers able to stimulate a market recovery,” says A. Sapronov. “The construction of large Olympic facilities, for which metal was needed, is almost completed, and there are no projects similar to them in scale. It should be taken into account when making forecasts about the transportation of products of the steel industry.”
In the opinion of the expert, the seasonality of the construction sector magnifies the need for various steel products (reinforced metal, bars, etc.), however, the situation in the sector is ambivalent. Still, there is some recovery in the construction sector (about 3-4%), while the machine building sector lost the status as the driver of the demand for metal. The production volume of cars in Russia fell 2.4% year-on-year, and the dynamics of other segments of the machine building sector are practically the same.
A similar situation is observed in the coal sector, where amid a 2-3% growth in consumption, supplies from Australia, the USA, Colombia, etc. became active. All these trends are characteristic of other raw material markets.
Obviously, the year of 2013 will not be easy for the Russian economy. According to Morgan Stanley bank, a there is a long-term global reduction in demand for steel of up to +3% per annum (+5% in the last decade). There are similar forecasts for other goods and commodity markets.

Increased Competition among Transport Companies

Nevertheless, the macroeconomic situation does not fully reflect the dynamics of transportation on RZD network. The common negative trend, naturally, has a serious impact, but the influence of sectoral problems is obvious. Analysing the dynamics of the manufacture of some products and their transportation volumes, it can be seen that there is a negative trend for the Russian railway network.
According to the Russian Federal Statistics Service, in January-June 2013 the industrial production index increased by 0.1% in comparison with the first half of the previous year (the volume of transportation by rail reduced by 3% in this period).  In most cases the decline in the production volume was smaller than comparative sectors of transportation by rail, and the positive effect on the railway network is more moderate.
The reasons are not a secret: the “pie effect” observed in the industry presents in the transport sector either. The amount of service providers has increased, and the need for transportation reduces. The competition for cargoes has become tougher, and railwaymen don’t always win in it.
In addition to systemic problems, there are tactical problems. These are the reserves, which can and must be used to improve the sector’s statistics. For example, a number of producers of non-ore materials complain about the asynchronous work of employees of RZD’s traffic and repair divisions, therefore, there appears a decline in the loading volume.
“Empty or loaded railcars often arrive when there is no gap in the timetable, so trains have to idle a day or more, and we just do not have an opportunity to compensate for the delays,” notes Alexey Labyrin, Head of the Logistics Department at National Non-Ore Company. “Our limited loading capacities are not the only problem. The transporter lacks traction resources, and if they fail to provide us with a locomotive on Monday because of some track maintenance works, it does not mean that we will get two locomotives on Tuesday.”
The expert says that such difficulties are traditional in summer time, but this year the value of the matter in dispute is especially high. The demand was stable earlier and increased stage-by-stage when the season began, but now, when the construction market is weak, any delay can lead to the breaking of a contract. We’d like to emphasise that what is meant here is crushed stone, which is traditionally transported by rail.
Potential losses seem to be more serious in sectors, where the competition is more significant. “The adjustment of transportation of additional volumes is a very difficult process. We understand the difficulties, which emerge when unplanned requests for transportation are serviced, but we cannot refuse a client, and we make a decision according to the situation, which often means a search for alternative means of transportation,” says Oleg Smolensky, Deputy CEO at ProfCement-Vector LLC. Also, he points to the division of consignments into several parts, which sometimes can hardly be explained. Small consignments of 20-30 railcars are divided into smaller ones, and hardly any customer likes it.
As a reminder, cooling in relations between cement producers and railwaymen began neither this year nor in 2012. For example, up to 80% of products made in Russia were carried by rail in 2009, but in the first half of 2013 the amount fell to 60% and less. Despite popular opinion, statistics do not show the whole story.     

More Attention to Details

Grain transportation volumes are doomed to be smaller than in 2012, when high results were achieved due to removal of the ban on grain exports. Neither the pricing environment nor other factors will stimulate the growth of exports this summer. However, representatives of small grain elevators complain that it is difficult to get ready for a new season, because removing old stocks becomes a problem. Supplies of empty rolling stock for loading are irregular, and companies are not able to load arriving groups of railcars sometimes, because their amount exceeds the capacities of the infrastructure. It is reminiscent of the complaints of iron and steel companies, which faced the problem of irregular transportation, sometimes even by block trains, amid weak demand for their products.
A lot of representatives of the industry say that deliveries of empty or loaded railcars mismatch the actual needs for rolling stock. For the railway, the problem-2013 is that a cargo owner does not have to wait for a railcar. A truck (for cars, grain, cement, or any other cargo) will arrive and transport everything that cannot be carried by rail at this moment, although it can be more expensive and needs more time.   
One should understand that the boom years, when the demand for railway transportation services was very large, have passed. Now it is the time of the competition for a customer, when any logistics solution is not predetermined. It is crucially important to avoid mismatches and provide a high-quality service. What used to stay at storage waiting for a next train is now carried by river shipping companies and road hauliers.
Statistics prove the thesis that railways carry less cargo amid weakening markets. Let’s hope, it is just the first round, and results of the year will be more cheerful for Russian Railways. ®
By Dmitry Khantsevich

[DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [~DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

In the first half of the year there was more than a 3% decline in the cargo loading volumes on the Russian railway network. These figures can be explained by the unfavourable global market situation, a common slowdown in the rates of economic growth, and other factors.

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

In the first half of the year there was more than a 3% decline in the cargo loading volumes on the Russian railway network. These figures can be explained by the unfavourable global market situation, a common slowdown in the rates of economic growth, and other factors.

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External Demand Is Weakened

In January-June 2013, the cargo transportation volume on RZD’s network failed to show better results than in the same period of the previous year. There was a decrease in loading volumes of almost all cargoes, except containerised freight (+0.2%), chemicals and mineral fertilizers (+0.8%), coal (+0.8%), and iron and manganese ore (+0.6%).
The most significant decline was in the transportation of mid- and high-yielding cargoes (-11% and -5% respectively). Earlier the situation in the low-yielding freight transportation sector showed improvements across all cargo sectors, but in 2013 its dynamics were negative, particularly because of the on-going reduction in the transportation of construction materials (over 5% in the first half of 2013). The only ray of light was coal: its transportation volume even increased in comparison with the same period of the previous year. Naturally, this situation cannot be considered favourable, and specialists think that many reasons for such a “moody” season are beyond RZD’s network.
The last three years were favourable for the Russian economy, especially for the railway sector. A stable growth of the GDP (3-5% per annum) and cargo loading volumes (approximately 4.5%) were possible first of all due to a very favourable situation in the global goods and raw material markets. In addition, there were a number of other obstacles – from the unstable situation in the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa to floods in Australia and problems in the nuclear energy sector, which contributed to the increase in demand for Russian raw materials.
Naturally, this couldn’t continue forever, and the record numbers in coal extraction or exports of ferrous metals cannot be repeated every year. Post-recession recovery of the world economy began to slow down back in 2011, besides, the activity in the consumer markets attracted new suppliers. Amid the plans made by famous and new players about the expansion of the extraction and, consequently, supplies, consumers become more and more selective. In other words, the size of the cake slightly increased in 2013, but the number of claimants for it also grew.
For example, the volume of steel produced globally in January – May increased by 2.1% year-on-year, especially due to the growth in the Asian countries (+5.9%). The rest of the regions reduced the volume of casting (the EU states – by 5.7%, Northern America – by 6.2%, and the CIS – by 4%). Meanwhile, experts say that the actual consumption volume slightly increased (in the range of 0.5% to 2.5%), and the market grows due to the backlog of demand.
“The recovery of the transportation of ferrous metals by rail is prevented by a decline in demand and a bad market situation,” thinks Alexander Sapronov, Vice President for Logistics at Novolipetsk Steel. “The situation grows worse: an unfavourable market situation contributes to an increase in the competition at sales markets, and things become even more complicated because of the surplus of production capacities in the world.”
Meanwhile, forecasts are cautiously optimistic. For example, according to the World Steel Association, production volumes of ferrous metals will increase by 3.5% this year (the amount of steel will grow by 2.9% only in comparison with 2012).
On the other hand, the surplus of production capacities is 20-30%, therefore, the market situation will hardly improve even if the optimistic outlook for the second half of the year comes to pass.
Chinese steelworkers can find support in their domestic market (consumption increased by 3.5% year-on-year), but Russian companies can’t. The demand at the Russian market fell 1.6%, and experts are rather cautious about the prospects for a revival in the summer.
“Unlike recent years, there are no powerful drivers able to stimulate a market recovery,” says A. Sapronov. “The construction of large Olympic facilities, for which metal was needed, is almost completed, and there are no projects similar to them in scale. It should be taken into account when making forecasts about the transportation of products of the steel industry.”
In the opinion of the expert, the seasonality of the construction sector magnifies the need for various steel products (reinforced metal, bars, etc.), however, the situation in the sector is ambivalent. Still, there is some recovery in the construction sector (about 3-4%), while the machine building sector lost the status as the driver of the demand for metal. The production volume of cars in Russia fell 2.4% year-on-year, and the dynamics of other segments of the machine building sector are practically the same.
A similar situation is observed in the coal sector, where amid a 2-3% growth in consumption, supplies from Australia, the USA, Colombia, etc. became active. All these trends are characteristic of other raw material markets.
Obviously, the year of 2013 will not be easy for the Russian economy. According to Morgan Stanley bank, a there is a long-term global reduction in demand for steel of up to +3% per annum (+5% in the last decade). There are similar forecasts for other goods and commodity markets.

Increased Competition among Transport Companies

Nevertheless, the macroeconomic situation does not fully reflect the dynamics of transportation on RZD network. The common negative trend, naturally, has a serious impact, but the influence of sectoral problems is obvious. Analysing the dynamics of the manufacture of some products and their transportation volumes, it can be seen that there is a negative trend for the Russian railway network.
According to the Russian Federal Statistics Service, in January-June 2013 the industrial production index increased by 0.1% in comparison with the first half of the previous year (the volume of transportation by rail reduced by 3% in this period).  In most cases the decline in the production volume was smaller than comparative sectors of transportation by rail, and the positive effect on the railway network is more moderate.
The reasons are not a secret: the “pie effect” observed in the industry presents in the transport sector either. The amount of service providers has increased, and the need for transportation reduces. The competition for cargoes has become tougher, and railwaymen don’t always win in it.
In addition to systemic problems, there are tactical problems. These are the reserves, which can and must be used to improve the sector’s statistics. For example, a number of producers of non-ore materials complain about the asynchronous work of employees of RZD’s traffic and repair divisions, therefore, there appears a decline in the loading volume.
“Empty or loaded railcars often arrive when there is no gap in the timetable, so trains have to idle a day or more, and we just do not have an opportunity to compensate for the delays,” notes Alexey Labyrin, Head of the Logistics Department at National Non-Ore Company. “Our limited loading capacities are not the only problem. The transporter lacks traction resources, and if they fail to provide us with a locomotive on Monday because of some track maintenance works, it does not mean that we will get two locomotives on Tuesday.”
The expert says that such difficulties are traditional in summer time, but this year the value of the matter in dispute is especially high. The demand was stable earlier and increased stage-by-stage when the season began, but now, when the construction market is weak, any delay can lead to the breaking of a contract. We’d like to emphasise that what is meant here is crushed stone, which is traditionally transported by rail.
Potential losses seem to be more serious in sectors, where the competition is more significant. “The adjustment of transportation of additional volumes is a very difficult process. We understand the difficulties, which emerge when unplanned requests for transportation are serviced, but we cannot refuse a client, and we make a decision according to the situation, which often means a search for alternative means of transportation,” says Oleg Smolensky, Deputy CEO at ProfCement-Vector LLC. Also, he points to the division of consignments into several parts, which sometimes can hardly be explained. Small consignments of 20-30 railcars are divided into smaller ones, and hardly any customer likes it.
As a reminder, cooling in relations between cement producers and railwaymen began neither this year nor in 2012. For example, up to 80% of products made in Russia were carried by rail in 2009, but in the first half of 2013 the amount fell to 60% and less. Despite popular opinion, statistics do not show the whole story.     

More Attention to Details

Grain transportation volumes are doomed to be smaller than in 2012, when high results were achieved due to removal of the ban on grain exports. Neither the pricing environment nor other factors will stimulate the growth of exports this summer. However, representatives of small grain elevators complain that it is difficult to get ready for a new season, because removing old stocks becomes a problem. Supplies of empty rolling stock for loading are irregular, and companies are not able to load arriving groups of railcars sometimes, because their amount exceeds the capacities of the infrastructure. It is reminiscent of the complaints of iron and steel companies, which faced the problem of irregular transportation, sometimes even by block trains, amid weak demand for their products.
A lot of representatives of the industry say that deliveries of empty or loaded railcars mismatch the actual needs for rolling stock. For the railway, the problem-2013 is that a cargo owner does not have to wait for a railcar. A truck (for cars, grain, cement, or any other cargo) will arrive and transport everything that cannot be carried by rail at this moment, although it can be more expensive and needs more time.   
One should understand that the boom years, when the demand for railway transportation services was very large, have passed. Now it is the time of the competition for a customer, when any logistics solution is not predetermined. It is crucially important to avoid mismatches and provide a high-quality service. What used to stay at storage waiting for a next train is now carried by river shipping companies and road hauliers.
Statistics prove the thesis that railways carry less cargo amid weakening markets. Let’s hope, it is just the first round, and results of the year will be more cheerful for Russian Railways. ®
By Dmitry Khantsevich

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

External Demand Is Weakened

In January-June 2013, the cargo transportation volume on RZD’s network failed to show better results than in the same period of the previous year. There was a decrease in loading volumes of almost all cargoes, except containerised freight (+0.2%), chemicals and mineral fertilizers (+0.8%), coal (+0.8%), and iron and manganese ore (+0.6%).
The most significant decline was in the transportation of mid- and high-yielding cargoes (-11% and -5% respectively). Earlier the situation in the low-yielding freight transportation sector showed improvements across all cargo sectors, but in 2013 its dynamics were negative, particularly because of the on-going reduction in the transportation of construction materials (over 5% in the first half of 2013). The only ray of light was coal: its transportation volume even increased in comparison with the same period of the previous year. Naturally, this situation cannot be considered favourable, and specialists think that many reasons for such a “moody” season are beyond RZD’s network.
The last three years were favourable for the Russian economy, especially for the railway sector. A stable growth of the GDP (3-5% per annum) and cargo loading volumes (approximately 4.5%) were possible first of all due to a very favourable situation in the global goods and raw material markets. In addition, there were a number of other obstacles – from the unstable situation in the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa to floods in Australia and problems in the nuclear energy sector, which contributed to the increase in demand for Russian raw materials.
Naturally, this couldn’t continue forever, and the record numbers in coal extraction or exports of ferrous metals cannot be repeated every year. Post-recession recovery of the world economy began to slow down back in 2011, besides, the activity in the consumer markets attracted new suppliers. Amid the plans made by famous and new players about the expansion of the extraction and, consequently, supplies, consumers become more and more selective. In other words, the size of the cake slightly increased in 2013, but the number of claimants for it also grew.
For example, the volume of steel produced globally in January – May increased by 2.1% year-on-year, especially due to the growth in the Asian countries (+5.9%). The rest of the regions reduced the volume of casting (the EU states – by 5.7%, Northern America – by 6.2%, and the CIS – by 4%). Meanwhile, experts say that the actual consumption volume slightly increased (in the range of 0.5% to 2.5%), and the market grows due to the backlog of demand.
“The recovery of the transportation of ferrous metals by rail is prevented by a decline in demand and a bad market situation,” thinks Alexander Sapronov, Vice President for Logistics at Novolipetsk Steel. “The situation grows worse: an unfavourable market situation contributes to an increase in the competition at sales markets, and things become even more complicated because of the surplus of production capacities in the world.”
Meanwhile, forecasts are cautiously optimistic. For example, according to the World Steel Association, production volumes of ferrous metals will increase by 3.5% this year (the amount of steel will grow by 2.9% only in comparison with 2012).
On the other hand, the surplus of production capacities is 20-30%, therefore, the market situation will hardly improve even if the optimistic outlook for the second half of the year comes to pass.
Chinese steelworkers can find support in their domestic market (consumption increased by 3.5% year-on-year), but Russian companies can’t. The demand at the Russian market fell 1.6%, and experts are rather cautious about the prospects for a revival in the summer.
“Unlike recent years, there are no powerful drivers able to stimulate a market recovery,” says A. Sapronov. “The construction of large Olympic facilities, for which metal was needed, is almost completed, and there are no projects similar to them in scale. It should be taken into account when making forecasts about the transportation of products of the steel industry.”
In the opinion of the expert, the seasonality of the construction sector magnifies the need for various steel products (reinforced metal, bars, etc.), however, the situation in the sector is ambivalent. Still, there is some recovery in the construction sector (about 3-4%), while the machine building sector lost the status as the driver of the demand for metal. The production volume of cars in Russia fell 2.4% year-on-year, and the dynamics of other segments of the machine building sector are practically the same.
A similar situation is observed in the coal sector, where amid a 2-3% growth in consumption, supplies from Australia, the USA, Colombia, etc. became active. All these trends are characteristic of other raw material markets.
Obviously, the year of 2013 will not be easy for the Russian economy. According to Morgan Stanley bank, a there is a long-term global reduction in demand for steel of up to +3% per annum (+5% in the last decade). There are similar forecasts for other goods and commodity markets.

Increased Competition among Transport Companies

Nevertheless, the macroeconomic situation does not fully reflect the dynamics of transportation on RZD network. The common negative trend, naturally, has a serious impact, but the influence of sectoral problems is obvious. Analysing the dynamics of the manufacture of some products and their transportation volumes, it can be seen that there is a negative trend for the Russian railway network.
According to the Russian Federal Statistics Service, in January-June 2013 the industrial production index increased by 0.1% in comparison with the first half of the previous year (the volume of transportation by rail reduced by 3% in this period).  In most cases the decline in the production volume was smaller than comparative sectors of transportation by rail, and the positive effect on the railway network is more moderate.
The reasons are not a secret: the “pie effect” observed in the industry presents in the transport sector either. The amount of service providers has increased, and the need for transportation reduces. The competition for cargoes has become tougher, and railwaymen don’t always win in it.
In addition to systemic problems, there are tactical problems. These are the reserves, which can and must be used to improve the sector’s statistics. For example, a number of producers of non-ore materials complain about the asynchronous work of employees of RZD’s traffic and repair divisions, therefore, there appears a decline in the loading volume.
“Empty or loaded railcars often arrive when there is no gap in the timetable, so trains have to idle a day or more, and we just do not have an opportunity to compensate for the delays,” notes Alexey Labyrin, Head of the Logistics Department at National Non-Ore Company. “Our limited loading capacities are not the only problem. The transporter lacks traction resources, and if they fail to provide us with a locomotive on Monday because of some track maintenance works, it does not mean that we will get two locomotives on Tuesday.”
The expert says that such difficulties are traditional in summer time, but this year the value of the matter in dispute is especially high. The demand was stable earlier and increased stage-by-stage when the season began, but now, when the construction market is weak, any delay can lead to the breaking of a contract. We’d like to emphasise that what is meant here is crushed stone, which is traditionally transported by rail.
Potential losses seem to be more serious in sectors, where the competition is more significant. “The adjustment of transportation of additional volumes is a very difficult process. We understand the difficulties, which emerge when unplanned requests for transportation are serviced, but we cannot refuse a client, and we make a decision according to the situation, which often means a search for alternative means of transportation,” says Oleg Smolensky, Deputy CEO at ProfCement-Vector LLC. Also, he points to the division of consignments into several parts, which sometimes can hardly be explained. Small consignments of 20-30 railcars are divided into smaller ones, and hardly any customer likes it.
As a reminder, cooling in relations between cement producers and railwaymen began neither this year nor in 2012. For example, up to 80% of products made in Russia were carried by rail in 2009, but in the first half of 2013 the amount fell to 60% and less. Despite popular opinion, statistics do not show the whole story.     

More Attention to Details

Grain transportation volumes are doomed to be smaller than in 2012, when high results were achieved due to removal of the ban on grain exports. Neither the pricing environment nor other factors will stimulate the growth of exports this summer. However, representatives of small grain elevators complain that it is difficult to get ready for a new season, because removing old stocks becomes a problem. Supplies of empty rolling stock for loading are irregular, and companies are not able to load arriving groups of railcars sometimes, because their amount exceeds the capacities of the infrastructure. It is reminiscent of the complaints of iron and steel companies, which faced the problem of irregular transportation, sometimes even by block trains, amid weak demand for their products.
A lot of representatives of the industry say that deliveries of empty or loaded railcars mismatch the actual needs for rolling stock. For the railway, the problem-2013 is that a cargo owner does not have to wait for a railcar. A truck (for cars, grain, cement, or any other cargo) will arrive and transport everything that cannot be carried by rail at this moment, although it can be more expensive and needs more time.   
One should understand that the boom years, when the demand for railway transportation services was very large, have passed. Now it is the time of the competition for a customer, when any logistics solution is not predetermined. It is crucially important to avoid mismatches and provide a high-quality service. What used to stay at storage waiting for a next train is now carried by river shipping companies and road hauliers.
Statistics prove the thesis that railways carry less cargo amid weakening markets. Let’s hope, it is just the first round, and results of the year will be more cheerful for Russian Railways. ®
By Dmitry Khantsevich

[DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [~DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

In the first half of the year there was more than a 3% decline in the cargo loading volumes on the Russian railway network. These figures can be explained by the unfavourable global market situation, a common slowdown in the rates of economic growth, and other factors.

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

In the first half of the year there was more than a 3% decline in the cargo loading volumes on the Russian railway network. These figures can be explained by the unfavourable global market situation, a common slowdown in the rates of economic growth, and other factors.

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РЖД-Партнер

Transportation. Panorama

According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Service, sea ports of Ukraine handled 70.74 million tons of cargo in the 1st half of 2013, a 7.1% decline in comparison with the same period of the previous year.

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Throughput Of Ukrainian Sea Ports Fell 7% In H1 2013
According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Service, sea ports of Ukraine handled 70.74 million tons of cargo in the 1st half of 2013, a 7.1% decline in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
In this period, transit volumes reduced by 16.8% to 16.7 million tons. Handling volume of exports fell 6% to 44.1 million tons.
Imports grew by 4% to 8.8 million tons. Throughput of coastal trade cargoes increased by 79% year-on-year to 1.05 million tons, but its share in the total throughput remained the smallest.

Russian Government Has Approved Regulation Of Railway Operators
The Russian Government approved Regulation №626 dated July 25, 2013, “On Approving the Regulation on the Basis of Legal Adjustment of the Activity of Operators of Railway Rolling Stock and Their Interaction with Transporters”.
The document provides a definition of an operator company, specifies on their rights and liabilities. Also, it introduces the basis for forming legal mechanisms for operators’ interaction with other participants in the transportation process. In particular, it fixes the structure of a contract with customers and with the owner of the infrastructure and transporters. The document came into force in seven days after publication, i.e. on August 6, 2013.

Number Of Passengers Travelling Between Russia And Finland By Train Increased By 20% In H1 2013
In the first half of 2013, the number of passengers carried between Russia and Finland by railways exceeded 283,500, a 20% increase in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
Passenger traffic between Russia and Finland makes up over 70% of the total volume of passenger transportation between Russia and non-CIS countries.
The increase in passenger transportation between Russia and Finland is provided by the growth in the number of passengers travelling by “Allegro” express trains linking St Petersburg and Helsinki. In H1 2013, these trains carried 215.5 thousand passengers, 30% more than in the same period of 2012.
As a reminder, “Allegro” express train is the first international project of RZD and VR-Group Ltd. After its launch on December 12, 2010, the travel time between Helsinki and St Petersburg reduced from 6 hours 18 minutes to 3 hours 36 minutes.

Loading Volumes On Ukrzaliznytsia’s Network Decreased By 4% In January-June
In the first six months of 2013, the loading volume on the network of Ukrzaliznytsia was 176.3 million tons, a 4% decline with comparison with the same period of 2012.
In the reporting period, the daily loading volume fell to 974,368 tons. In the first half of 2012, the figure was 1.014 million tons. 15,239 railcars were loaded daily in January-June 2013, while a year ago the figure was 15,991 wagons.

Eesti Raudtee: 9% Decline In Cargo Transportation
Estonian railway company Eesti Raudtee reduced cargo transportation to 13.2 million tons, a 9% decrease in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
In the first half of 2013, 8.7 million tons of oil and petrochemicals (the same as in January-June 2012), 1.6 million tons of shales (-11.3%), 1.4 million tons of fertilizers (-9.5%), 0.5 million tons of chemicals (-59%) were carried on its network. 0.4 million tons of different bulk cargoes were transported (-16%).
Transit reduced to 10.3 million tons (-8.7%) and made 78% of the total transportation volume. Domestic transportation volume was 1.9 million tons (-8.6%).
In June 2013, the company carried 1.8 million tons of freight (+1.4% year-on-year).

Transcontainer: 2.2% Decrease In Container Transportation
In the first six months of 2013, the operating results of TransContainer OJSC were affected by an increasingly competitive environment and a persisting weak economic climate.
TransContainer’s rail container transportation volumes in Russia for the second quarter of 2013 decreased by 3.0% to 359 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) compared to 370 thousand TEU for the same period of 2012.
The company’s rail container transportation volumes for the first six months 2013 amounted to 701 thousand TEU from 717 thousand TEU for the first six month of 2012, down 2.2% year on year. This decrease was mainly driven by a 9.2% drop in domestic transportation volumes, partly compensated for by a 19.9% growth in imports.

Ldz Cargo Reduced Freight Transportation Volume By 13% In H1 2013
In January-June 2013, freight transportation volumes of LDz Cargo (a subsidiary of Latvijas Dzelzcels) reduced by 12.7% year-on-year to 29.423 million tons.
Of that, imports were 25.254 million tons (-8.1% in comparison with January-June 2012), including 22.967 million tons carried via railway stations in ports (-10.4%).
Domestic transportation volume was 436,000 tons (-8.4%), transit was 1.455 million tons (-52.6%). Exports were 2.278 million tons (-15%), including 785,000 tons carried via railway stations in ports (-54.5%).
In June 2013, the company’s transportation volume fell 13% year-on-year to 4.4 million tons.
Last year, the operator transported 60.6 million tons (+2% in comparison with 2011).

Private Locomotives On The Russian Railway Network
Freight One, owned by Vladimir Lisin, purchased two second-hand locomotives, repaired them, and put them into operation on the South-Eastern Railway (an affiliate of RZD) on the line linking the Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works and Stoilensky Ore Mining and Processing Works in the Belgorod region.
In the next two years, the company plans to buy another eight locomotives for operation on the same area, although, they analyse the possible usage of these machines on other routes.
The cost of one locomotive, taking repair into account, can reach $2 million. It is not difficult to buy them, the problem is to arrange with RZD about using the locomotives on the public network.
The procedure of getting a permission for using a private locomotive on the public railway network is rather long-winded. RZD gives a permission taking into account the capacity of the network. Such companies as Globaltrans, Transgarant, and Transoil have locomotives. The liberalisation of the locomotive market will allow solving these issues and simplifying all procedures. The first private rail transporters are supposed to appear in 2013, but the process has been dragged out. In the words of Sergey Maltsev, Director General of Globaltrans, the issue about locomotives is planned to be discussed in the middle of July at a meeting with Arkady Dvorkovich, Vice Prime Minister.

Russian River Transport System “Outdated” – Official
Russia’s Audit Chamber published a damning report on the condition of Russia’s river transport system, describing unfit vessels operating under outdated regulations.
Most of the vessels operating in Russia’s inland waterways were put into operation 50-70 years ago, or even earlier, while regulations governing the sector were adopted in the 1970s and 1990s they have not been updated, the report says.
Just 24% of vessels operating are deemed to be in “a useable technical condition,” the report says.
In July 2011 a passenger ship “Bulgaria”, sank on the Volga River, killing 122 people. The boat was built in 1955 and had a number of safety faults – including a broken engine and a starboard list. Although it was also overloaded and operating without a license when it sank, the incident threw problems in regulating Russia’s waterways into the spotlight.

Rent Rates For Cargo Wagons Can Increase By 40% In Russia In Autumn
Rent rates for the use of railway rolling stock can increase by 40% since September 1, 2013.
“The growth can amount to 40% depending on destinations and, first of all, it will affect construction materials,” said Gleb Kinder, Chairman of the Commission for Railway Transport at the public organisation “OPORA of Russia”.
According to information from the companies working in the construction and timber industries, along with the lack of wagons, which suddenly emerged in August, operators notified them about a significant increase in rates.
According to the “OPORA of Russia,” the price increase will negatively impact the condition of Russian industrial companies. “Rolling stock idles either at loading operations or as a part of cargo trains without locomotives delayed for some technical or commercial reasons throughout the network”, said Mr Kinder. “To these, we should add 30,000 wagons removed from operations by the order of The Federal Service for Transport Supervision (Rostransnadzor) and several thousand wagons idling in Kazakhstan,” he said.
As a result, in the opinion of experts, the negative situation in the real sector may become even worse in autumn because of rising transport costs.
“The government should introduce price controls,” Mr Kinder is sure.

Long-Term Railway Tariffs Will Contribute To Optimisation Of Cargo Transportation – Rzd
The transfer to long-term railway tariffs will contribute to the optimisation of freight transportation, says Vladimir Gapanko, Head of the Division for Financial Accounting and Reporting at RZD.
“The company will gain an opportunity to increase the efficiency of attracting and using funds, operators and cargo owners – to make more accurate long-term development plans,” he added.
V. Gapanko noted that RZD in cooperation with federal authorities and other interested parties played an active part in the development of the regulatory and procedural base needed for the introduction of the innovation.
According to preliminary plans, announced by officials, the transfer to long-term tariffs will take place in 2014.

Speed Of Cargo Trains On 9 Sections Of Bam And Transsib Will Increase In 2013
This year, RZD plans to increase the speed of cargo trains on five sections of the Trans-Siberian Mainline (the Transsib) and four sections of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (the BAM) in the area of the East-Siberian Railway (an affiliate of RZD).
For that, continuous welded rails will be laid.
After the track’s reconstruction, the speed of cargo trains will increase from 60 to 70 kph at the Chyornaya – Sredneilimskaya, the Galachinsky – Padunskie Porogi, and the Toreya – Ognevka sections of the BAM; from 80 to 90 kph at Shuba – Tulyushka section (the Transsib) and Parchum – Raz’ezd №9 section (the BAM).
The East-Siberian Railway is going to expand the share of continuous welded rails to 41% on the length of main tracks. For that, 345 kilometres of tracks will be laid on the sections of the Transsib and the BAM. Thank to that, the length of continuous welded rails on the area of the East-Siberian Railway will reach 2,572 kilometres. In addition, the railway plans to reconstruct 319 kilometres of tracks, capital repair of 130 kilometres and “medium” repair of 179 kilometres of tracks. Total investment in track repair will amount to RUB 6.8 billion.

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Throughput Of Ukrainian Sea Ports Fell 7% In H1 2013
According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Service, sea ports of Ukraine handled 70.74 million tons of cargo in the 1st half of 2013, a 7.1% decline in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
In this period, transit volumes reduced by 16.8% to 16.7 million tons. Handling volume of exports fell 6% to 44.1 million tons.
Imports grew by 4% to 8.8 million tons. Throughput of coastal trade cargoes increased by 79% year-on-year to 1.05 million tons, but its share in the total throughput remained the smallest.

Russian Government Has Approved Regulation Of Railway Operators
The Russian Government approved Regulation №626 dated July 25, 2013, “On Approving the Regulation on the Basis of Legal Adjustment of the Activity of Operators of Railway Rolling Stock and Their Interaction with Transporters”.
The document provides a definition of an operator company, specifies on their rights and liabilities. Also, it introduces the basis for forming legal mechanisms for operators’ interaction with other participants in the transportation process. In particular, it fixes the structure of a contract with customers and with the owner of the infrastructure and transporters. The document came into force in seven days after publication, i.e. on August 6, 2013.

Number Of Passengers Travelling Between Russia And Finland By Train Increased By 20% In H1 2013
In the first half of 2013, the number of passengers carried between Russia and Finland by railways exceeded 283,500, a 20% increase in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
Passenger traffic between Russia and Finland makes up over 70% of the total volume of passenger transportation between Russia and non-CIS countries.
The increase in passenger transportation between Russia and Finland is provided by the growth in the number of passengers travelling by “Allegro” express trains linking St Petersburg and Helsinki. In H1 2013, these trains carried 215.5 thousand passengers, 30% more than in the same period of 2012.
As a reminder, “Allegro” express train is the first international project of RZD and VR-Group Ltd. After its launch on December 12, 2010, the travel time between Helsinki and St Petersburg reduced from 6 hours 18 minutes to 3 hours 36 minutes.

Loading Volumes On Ukrzaliznytsia’s Network Decreased By 4% In January-June
In the first six months of 2013, the loading volume on the network of Ukrzaliznytsia was 176.3 million tons, a 4% decline with comparison with the same period of 2012.
In the reporting period, the daily loading volume fell to 974,368 tons. In the first half of 2012, the figure was 1.014 million tons. 15,239 railcars were loaded daily in January-June 2013, while a year ago the figure was 15,991 wagons.

Eesti Raudtee: 9% Decline In Cargo Transportation
Estonian railway company Eesti Raudtee reduced cargo transportation to 13.2 million tons, a 9% decrease in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
In the first half of 2013, 8.7 million tons of oil and petrochemicals (the same as in January-June 2012), 1.6 million tons of shales (-11.3%), 1.4 million tons of fertilizers (-9.5%), 0.5 million tons of chemicals (-59%) were carried on its network. 0.4 million tons of different bulk cargoes were transported (-16%).
Transit reduced to 10.3 million tons (-8.7%) and made 78% of the total transportation volume. Domestic transportation volume was 1.9 million tons (-8.6%).
In June 2013, the company carried 1.8 million tons of freight (+1.4% year-on-year).

Transcontainer: 2.2% Decrease In Container Transportation
In the first six months of 2013, the operating results of TransContainer OJSC were affected by an increasingly competitive environment and a persisting weak economic climate.
TransContainer’s rail container transportation volumes in Russia for the second quarter of 2013 decreased by 3.0% to 359 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) compared to 370 thousand TEU for the same period of 2012.
The company’s rail container transportation volumes for the first six months 2013 amounted to 701 thousand TEU from 717 thousand TEU for the first six month of 2012, down 2.2% year on year. This decrease was mainly driven by a 9.2% drop in domestic transportation volumes, partly compensated for by a 19.9% growth in imports.

Ldz Cargo Reduced Freight Transportation Volume By 13% In H1 2013
In January-June 2013, freight transportation volumes of LDz Cargo (a subsidiary of Latvijas Dzelzcels) reduced by 12.7% year-on-year to 29.423 million tons.
Of that, imports were 25.254 million tons (-8.1% in comparison with January-June 2012), including 22.967 million tons carried via railway stations in ports (-10.4%).
Domestic transportation volume was 436,000 tons (-8.4%), transit was 1.455 million tons (-52.6%). Exports were 2.278 million tons (-15%), including 785,000 tons carried via railway stations in ports (-54.5%).
In June 2013, the company’s transportation volume fell 13% year-on-year to 4.4 million tons.
Last year, the operator transported 60.6 million tons (+2% in comparison with 2011).

Private Locomotives On The Russian Railway Network
Freight One, owned by Vladimir Lisin, purchased two second-hand locomotives, repaired them, and put them into operation on the South-Eastern Railway (an affiliate of RZD) on the line linking the Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works and Stoilensky Ore Mining and Processing Works in the Belgorod region.
In the next two years, the company plans to buy another eight locomotives for operation on the same area, although, they analyse the possible usage of these machines on other routes.
The cost of one locomotive, taking repair into account, can reach $2 million. It is not difficult to buy them, the problem is to arrange with RZD about using the locomotives on the public network.
The procedure of getting a permission for using a private locomotive on the public railway network is rather long-winded. RZD gives a permission taking into account the capacity of the network. Such companies as Globaltrans, Transgarant, and Transoil have locomotives. The liberalisation of the locomotive market will allow solving these issues and simplifying all procedures. The first private rail transporters are supposed to appear in 2013, but the process has been dragged out. In the words of Sergey Maltsev, Director General of Globaltrans, the issue about locomotives is planned to be discussed in the middle of July at a meeting with Arkady Dvorkovich, Vice Prime Minister.

Russian River Transport System “Outdated” – Official
Russia’s Audit Chamber published a damning report on the condition of Russia’s river transport system, describing unfit vessels operating under outdated regulations.
Most of the vessels operating in Russia’s inland waterways were put into operation 50-70 years ago, or even earlier, while regulations governing the sector were adopted in the 1970s and 1990s they have not been updated, the report says.
Just 24% of vessels operating are deemed to be in “a useable technical condition,” the report says.
In July 2011 a passenger ship “Bulgaria”, sank on the Volga River, killing 122 people. The boat was built in 1955 and had a number of safety faults – including a broken engine and a starboard list. Although it was also overloaded and operating without a license when it sank, the incident threw problems in regulating Russia’s waterways into the spotlight.

Rent Rates For Cargo Wagons Can Increase By 40% In Russia In Autumn
Rent rates for the use of railway rolling stock can increase by 40% since September 1, 2013.
“The growth can amount to 40% depending on destinations and, first of all, it will affect construction materials,” said Gleb Kinder, Chairman of the Commission for Railway Transport at the public organisation “OPORA of Russia”.
According to information from the companies working in the construction and timber industries, along with the lack of wagons, which suddenly emerged in August, operators notified them about a significant increase in rates.
According to the “OPORA of Russia,” the price increase will negatively impact the condition of Russian industrial companies. “Rolling stock idles either at loading operations or as a part of cargo trains without locomotives delayed for some technical or commercial reasons throughout the network”, said Mr Kinder. “To these, we should add 30,000 wagons removed from operations by the order of The Federal Service for Transport Supervision (Rostransnadzor) and several thousand wagons idling in Kazakhstan,” he said.
As a result, in the opinion of experts, the negative situation in the real sector may become even worse in autumn because of rising transport costs.
“The government should introduce price controls,” Mr Kinder is sure.

Long-Term Railway Tariffs Will Contribute To Optimisation Of Cargo Transportation – Rzd
The transfer to long-term railway tariffs will contribute to the optimisation of freight transportation, says Vladimir Gapanko, Head of the Division for Financial Accounting and Reporting at RZD.
“The company will gain an opportunity to increase the efficiency of attracting and using funds, operators and cargo owners – to make more accurate long-term development plans,” he added.
V. Gapanko noted that RZD in cooperation with federal authorities and other interested parties played an active part in the development of the regulatory and procedural base needed for the introduction of the innovation.
According to preliminary plans, announced by officials, the transfer to long-term tariffs will take place in 2014.

Speed Of Cargo Trains On 9 Sections Of Bam And Transsib Will Increase In 2013
This year, RZD plans to increase the speed of cargo trains on five sections of the Trans-Siberian Mainline (the Transsib) and four sections of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (the BAM) in the area of the East-Siberian Railway (an affiliate of RZD).
For that, continuous welded rails will be laid.
After the track’s reconstruction, the speed of cargo trains will increase from 60 to 70 kph at the Chyornaya – Sredneilimskaya, the Galachinsky – Padunskie Porogi, and the Toreya – Ognevka sections of the BAM; from 80 to 90 kph at Shuba – Tulyushka section (the Transsib) and Parchum – Raz’ezd №9 section (the BAM).
The East-Siberian Railway is going to expand the share of continuous welded rails to 41% on the length of main tracks. For that, 345 kilometres of tracks will be laid on the sections of the Transsib and the BAM. Thank to that, the length of continuous welded rails on the area of the East-Siberian Railway will reach 2,572 kilometres. In addition, the railway plans to reconstruct 319 kilometres of tracks, capital repair of 130 kilometres and “medium” repair of 179 kilometres of tracks. Total investment in track repair will amount to RUB 6.8 billion.

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According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Service, sea ports of Ukraine handled 70.74 million tons of cargo in the 1st half of 2013, a 7.1% decline in comparison with the same period of the previous year.

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According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Service, sea ports of Ukraine handled 70.74 million tons of cargo in the 1st half of 2013, a 7.1% decline in comparison with the same period of the previous year.

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Throughput Of Ukrainian Sea Ports Fell 7% In H1 2013
According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Service, sea ports of Ukraine handled 70.74 million tons of cargo in the 1st half of 2013, a 7.1% decline in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
In this period, transit volumes reduced by 16.8% to 16.7 million tons. Handling volume of exports fell 6% to 44.1 million tons.
Imports grew by 4% to 8.8 million tons. Throughput of coastal trade cargoes increased by 79% year-on-year to 1.05 million tons, but its share in the total throughput remained the smallest.

Russian Government Has Approved Regulation Of Railway Operators
The Russian Government approved Regulation №626 dated July 25, 2013, “On Approving the Regulation on the Basis of Legal Adjustment of the Activity of Operators of Railway Rolling Stock and Their Interaction with Transporters”.
The document provides a definition of an operator company, specifies on their rights and liabilities. Also, it introduces the basis for forming legal mechanisms for operators’ interaction with other participants in the transportation process. In particular, it fixes the structure of a contract with customers and with the owner of the infrastructure and transporters. The document came into force in seven days after publication, i.e. on August 6, 2013.

Number Of Passengers Travelling Between Russia And Finland By Train Increased By 20% In H1 2013
In the first half of 2013, the number of passengers carried between Russia and Finland by railways exceeded 283,500, a 20% increase in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
Passenger traffic between Russia and Finland makes up over 70% of the total volume of passenger transportation between Russia and non-CIS countries.
The increase in passenger transportation between Russia and Finland is provided by the growth in the number of passengers travelling by “Allegro” express trains linking St Petersburg and Helsinki. In H1 2013, these trains carried 215.5 thousand passengers, 30% more than in the same period of 2012.
As a reminder, “Allegro” express train is the first international project of RZD and VR-Group Ltd. After its launch on December 12, 2010, the travel time between Helsinki and St Petersburg reduced from 6 hours 18 minutes to 3 hours 36 minutes.

Loading Volumes On Ukrzaliznytsia’s Network Decreased By 4% In January-June
In the first six months of 2013, the loading volume on the network of Ukrzaliznytsia was 176.3 million tons, a 4% decline with comparison with the same period of 2012.
In the reporting period, the daily loading volume fell to 974,368 tons. In the first half of 2012, the figure was 1.014 million tons. 15,239 railcars were loaded daily in January-June 2013, while a year ago the figure was 15,991 wagons.

Eesti Raudtee: 9% Decline In Cargo Transportation
Estonian railway company Eesti Raudtee reduced cargo transportation to 13.2 million tons, a 9% decrease in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
In the first half of 2013, 8.7 million tons of oil and petrochemicals (the same as in January-June 2012), 1.6 million tons of shales (-11.3%), 1.4 million tons of fertilizers (-9.5%), 0.5 million tons of chemicals (-59%) were carried on its network. 0.4 million tons of different bulk cargoes were transported (-16%).
Transit reduced to 10.3 million tons (-8.7%) and made 78% of the total transportation volume. Domestic transportation volume was 1.9 million tons (-8.6%).
In June 2013, the company carried 1.8 million tons of freight (+1.4% year-on-year).

Transcontainer: 2.2% Decrease In Container Transportation
In the first six months of 2013, the operating results of TransContainer OJSC were affected by an increasingly competitive environment and a persisting weak economic climate.
TransContainer’s rail container transportation volumes in Russia for the second quarter of 2013 decreased by 3.0% to 359 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) compared to 370 thousand TEU for the same period of 2012.
The company’s rail container transportation volumes for the first six months 2013 amounted to 701 thousand TEU from 717 thousand TEU for the first six month of 2012, down 2.2% year on year. This decrease was mainly driven by a 9.2% drop in domestic transportation volumes, partly compensated for by a 19.9% growth in imports.

Ldz Cargo Reduced Freight Transportation Volume By 13% In H1 2013
In January-June 2013, freight transportation volumes of LDz Cargo (a subsidiary of Latvijas Dzelzcels) reduced by 12.7% year-on-year to 29.423 million tons.
Of that, imports were 25.254 million tons (-8.1% in comparison with January-June 2012), including 22.967 million tons carried via railway stations in ports (-10.4%).
Domestic transportation volume was 436,000 tons (-8.4%), transit was 1.455 million tons (-52.6%). Exports were 2.278 million tons (-15%), including 785,000 tons carried via railway stations in ports (-54.5%).
In June 2013, the company’s transportation volume fell 13% year-on-year to 4.4 million tons.
Last year, the operator transported 60.6 million tons (+2% in comparison with 2011).

Private Locomotives On The Russian Railway Network
Freight One, owned by Vladimir Lisin, purchased two second-hand locomotives, repaired them, and put them into operation on the South-Eastern Railway (an affiliate of RZD) on the line linking the Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works and Stoilensky Ore Mining and Processing Works in the Belgorod region.
In the next two years, the company plans to buy another eight locomotives for operation on the same area, although, they analyse the possible usage of these machines on other routes.
The cost of one locomotive, taking repair into account, can reach $2 million. It is not difficult to buy them, the problem is to arrange with RZD about using the locomotives on the public network.
The procedure of getting a permission for using a private locomotive on the public railway network is rather long-winded. RZD gives a permission taking into account the capacity of the network. Such companies as Globaltrans, Transgarant, and Transoil have locomotives. The liberalisation of the locomotive market will allow solving these issues and simplifying all procedures. The first private rail transporters are supposed to appear in 2013, but the process has been dragged out. In the words of Sergey Maltsev, Director General of Globaltrans, the issue about locomotives is planned to be discussed in the middle of July at a meeting with Arkady Dvorkovich, Vice Prime Minister.

Russian River Transport System “Outdated” – Official
Russia’s Audit Chamber published a damning report on the condition of Russia’s river transport system, describing unfit vessels operating under outdated regulations.
Most of the vessels operating in Russia’s inland waterways were put into operation 50-70 years ago, or even earlier, while regulations governing the sector were adopted in the 1970s and 1990s they have not been updated, the report says.
Just 24% of vessels operating are deemed to be in “a useable technical condition,” the report says.
In July 2011 a passenger ship “Bulgaria”, sank on the Volga River, killing 122 people. The boat was built in 1955 and had a number of safety faults – including a broken engine and a starboard list. Although it was also overloaded and operating without a license when it sank, the incident threw problems in regulating Russia’s waterways into the spotlight.

Rent Rates For Cargo Wagons Can Increase By 40% In Russia In Autumn
Rent rates for the use of railway rolling stock can increase by 40% since September 1, 2013.
“The growth can amount to 40% depending on destinations and, first of all, it will affect construction materials,” said Gleb Kinder, Chairman of the Commission for Railway Transport at the public organisation “OPORA of Russia”.
According to information from the companies working in the construction and timber industries, along with the lack of wagons, which suddenly emerged in August, operators notified them about a significant increase in rates.
According to the “OPORA of Russia,” the price increase will negatively impact the condition of Russian industrial companies. “Rolling stock idles either at loading operations or as a part of cargo trains without locomotives delayed for some technical or commercial reasons throughout the network”, said Mr Kinder. “To these, we should add 30,000 wagons removed from operations by the order of The Federal Service for Transport Supervision (Rostransnadzor) and several thousand wagons idling in Kazakhstan,” he said.
As a result, in the opinion of experts, the negative situation in the real sector may become even worse in autumn because of rising transport costs.
“The government should introduce price controls,” Mr Kinder is sure.

Long-Term Railway Tariffs Will Contribute To Optimisation Of Cargo Transportation – Rzd
The transfer to long-term railway tariffs will contribute to the optimisation of freight transportation, says Vladimir Gapanko, Head of the Division for Financial Accounting and Reporting at RZD.
“The company will gain an opportunity to increase the efficiency of attracting and using funds, operators and cargo owners – to make more accurate long-term development plans,” he added.
V. Gapanko noted that RZD in cooperation with federal authorities and other interested parties played an active part in the development of the regulatory and procedural base needed for the introduction of the innovation.
According to preliminary plans, announced by officials, the transfer to long-term tariffs will take place in 2014.

Speed Of Cargo Trains On 9 Sections Of Bam And Transsib Will Increase In 2013
This year, RZD plans to increase the speed of cargo trains on five sections of the Trans-Siberian Mainline (the Transsib) and four sections of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (the BAM) in the area of the East-Siberian Railway (an affiliate of RZD).
For that, continuous welded rails will be laid.
After the track’s reconstruction, the speed of cargo trains will increase from 60 to 70 kph at the Chyornaya – Sredneilimskaya, the Galachinsky – Padunskie Porogi, and the Toreya – Ognevka sections of the BAM; from 80 to 90 kph at Shuba – Tulyushka section (the Transsib) and Parchum – Raz’ezd №9 section (the BAM).
The East-Siberian Railway is going to expand the share of continuous welded rails to 41% on the length of main tracks. For that, 345 kilometres of tracks will be laid on the sections of the Transsib and the BAM. Thank to that, the length of continuous welded rails on the area of the East-Siberian Railway will reach 2,572 kilometres. In addition, the railway plans to reconstruct 319 kilometres of tracks, capital repair of 130 kilometres and “medium” repair of 179 kilometres of tracks. Total investment in track repair will amount to RUB 6.8 billion.

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Throughput Of Ukrainian Sea Ports Fell 7% In H1 2013
According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Service, sea ports of Ukraine handled 70.74 million tons of cargo in the 1st half of 2013, a 7.1% decline in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
In this period, transit volumes reduced by 16.8% to 16.7 million tons. Handling volume of exports fell 6% to 44.1 million tons.
Imports grew by 4% to 8.8 million tons. Throughput of coastal trade cargoes increased by 79% year-on-year to 1.05 million tons, but its share in the total throughput remained the smallest.

Russian Government Has Approved Regulation Of Railway Operators
The Russian Government approved Regulation №626 dated July 25, 2013, “On Approving the Regulation on the Basis of Legal Adjustment of the Activity of Operators of Railway Rolling Stock and Their Interaction with Transporters”.
The document provides a definition of an operator company, specifies on their rights and liabilities. Also, it introduces the basis for forming legal mechanisms for operators’ interaction with other participants in the transportation process. In particular, it fixes the structure of a contract with customers and with the owner of the infrastructure and transporters. The document came into force in seven days after publication, i.e. on August 6, 2013.

Number Of Passengers Travelling Between Russia And Finland By Train Increased By 20% In H1 2013
In the first half of 2013, the number of passengers carried between Russia and Finland by railways exceeded 283,500, a 20% increase in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
Passenger traffic between Russia and Finland makes up over 70% of the total volume of passenger transportation between Russia and non-CIS countries.
The increase in passenger transportation between Russia and Finland is provided by the growth in the number of passengers travelling by “Allegro” express trains linking St Petersburg and Helsinki. In H1 2013, these trains carried 215.5 thousand passengers, 30% more than in the same period of 2012.
As a reminder, “Allegro” express train is the first international project of RZD and VR-Group Ltd. After its launch on December 12, 2010, the travel time between Helsinki and St Petersburg reduced from 6 hours 18 minutes to 3 hours 36 minutes.

Loading Volumes On Ukrzaliznytsia’s Network Decreased By 4% In January-June
In the first six months of 2013, the loading volume on the network of Ukrzaliznytsia was 176.3 million tons, a 4% decline with comparison with the same period of 2012.
In the reporting period, the daily loading volume fell to 974,368 tons. In the first half of 2012, the figure was 1.014 million tons. 15,239 railcars were loaded daily in January-June 2013, while a year ago the figure was 15,991 wagons.

Eesti Raudtee: 9% Decline In Cargo Transportation
Estonian railway company Eesti Raudtee reduced cargo transportation to 13.2 million tons, a 9% decrease in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
In the first half of 2013, 8.7 million tons of oil and petrochemicals (the same as in January-June 2012), 1.6 million tons of shales (-11.3%), 1.4 million tons of fertilizers (-9.5%), 0.5 million tons of chemicals (-59%) were carried on its network. 0.4 million tons of different bulk cargoes were transported (-16%).
Transit reduced to 10.3 million tons (-8.7%) and made 78% of the total transportation volume. Domestic transportation volume was 1.9 million tons (-8.6%).
In June 2013, the company carried 1.8 million tons of freight (+1.4% year-on-year).

Transcontainer: 2.2% Decrease In Container Transportation
In the first six months of 2013, the operating results of TransContainer OJSC were affected by an increasingly competitive environment and a persisting weak economic climate.
TransContainer’s rail container transportation volumes in Russia for the second quarter of 2013 decreased by 3.0% to 359 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) compared to 370 thousand TEU for the same period of 2012.
The company’s rail container transportation volumes for the first six months 2013 amounted to 701 thousand TEU from 717 thousand TEU for the first six month of 2012, down 2.2% year on year. This decrease was mainly driven by a 9.2% drop in domestic transportation volumes, partly compensated for by a 19.9% growth in imports.

Ldz Cargo Reduced Freight Transportation Volume By 13% In H1 2013
In January-June 2013, freight transportation volumes of LDz Cargo (a subsidiary of Latvijas Dzelzcels) reduced by 12.7% year-on-year to 29.423 million tons.
Of that, imports were 25.254 million tons (-8.1% in comparison with January-June 2012), including 22.967 million tons carried via railway stations in ports (-10.4%).
Domestic transportation volume was 436,000 tons (-8.4%), transit was 1.455 million tons (-52.6%). Exports were 2.278 million tons (-15%), including 785,000 tons carried via railway stations in ports (-54.5%).
In June 2013, the company’s transportation volume fell 13% year-on-year to 4.4 million tons.
Last year, the operator transported 60.6 million tons (+2% in comparison with 2011).

Private Locomotives On The Russian Railway Network
Freight One, owned by Vladimir Lisin, purchased two second-hand locomotives, repaired them, and put them into operation on the South-Eastern Railway (an affiliate of RZD) on the line linking the Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works and Stoilensky Ore Mining and Processing Works in the Belgorod region.
In the next two years, the company plans to buy another eight locomotives for operation on the same area, although, they analyse the possible usage of these machines on other routes.
The cost of one locomotive, taking repair into account, can reach $2 million. It is not difficult to buy them, the problem is to arrange with RZD about using the locomotives on the public network.
The procedure of getting a permission for using a private locomotive on the public railway network is rather long-winded. RZD gives a permission taking into account the capacity of the network. Such companies as Globaltrans, Transgarant, and Transoil have locomotives. The liberalisation of the locomotive market will allow solving these issues and simplifying all procedures. The first private rail transporters are supposed to appear in 2013, but the process has been dragged out. In the words of Sergey Maltsev, Director General of Globaltrans, the issue about locomotives is planned to be discussed in the middle of July at a meeting with Arkady Dvorkovich, Vice Prime Minister.

Russian River Transport System “Outdated” – Official
Russia’s Audit Chamber published a damning report on the condition of Russia’s river transport system, describing unfit vessels operating under outdated regulations.
Most of the vessels operating in Russia’s inland waterways were put into operation 50-70 years ago, or even earlier, while regulations governing the sector were adopted in the 1970s and 1990s they have not been updated, the report says.
Just 24% of vessels operating are deemed to be in “a useable technical condition,” the report says.
In July 2011 a passenger ship “Bulgaria”, sank on the Volga River, killing 122 people. The boat was built in 1955 and had a number of safety faults – including a broken engine and a starboard list. Although it was also overloaded and operating without a license when it sank, the incident threw problems in regulating Russia’s waterways into the spotlight.

Rent Rates For Cargo Wagons Can Increase By 40% In Russia In Autumn
Rent rates for the use of railway rolling stock can increase by 40% since September 1, 2013.
“The growth can amount to 40% depending on destinations and, first of all, it will affect construction materials,” said Gleb Kinder, Chairman of the Commission for Railway Transport at the public organisation “OPORA of Russia”.
According to information from the companies working in the construction and timber industries, along with the lack of wagons, which suddenly emerged in August, operators notified them about a significant increase in rates.
According to the “OPORA of Russia,” the price increase will negatively impact the condition of Russian industrial companies. “Rolling stock idles either at loading operations or as a part of cargo trains without locomotives delayed for some technical or commercial reasons throughout the network”, said Mr Kinder. “To these, we should add 30,000 wagons removed from operations by the order of The Federal Service for Transport Supervision (Rostransnadzor) and several thousand wagons idling in Kazakhstan,” he said.
As a result, in the opinion of experts, the negative situation in the real sector may become even worse in autumn because of rising transport costs.
“The government should introduce price controls,” Mr Kinder is sure.

Long-Term Railway Tariffs Will Contribute To Optimisation Of Cargo Transportation – Rzd
The transfer to long-term railway tariffs will contribute to the optimisation of freight transportation, says Vladimir Gapanko, Head of the Division for Financial Accounting and Reporting at RZD.
“The company will gain an opportunity to increase the efficiency of attracting and using funds, operators and cargo owners – to make more accurate long-term development plans,” he added.
V. Gapanko noted that RZD in cooperation with federal authorities and other interested parties played an active part in the development of the regulatory and procedural base needed for the introduction of the innovation.
According to preliminary plans, announced by officials, the transfer to long-term tariffs will take place in 2014.

Speed Of Cargo Trains On 9 Sections Of Bam And Transsib Will Increase In 2013
This year, RZD plans to increase the speed of cargo trains on five sections of the Trans-Siberian Mainline (the Transsib) and four sections of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (the BAM) in the area of the East-Siberian Railway (an affiliate of RZD).
For that, continuous welded rails will be laid.
After the track’s reconstruction, the speed of cargo trains will increase from 60 to 70 kph at the Chyornaya – Sredneilimskaya, the Galachinsky – Padunskie Porogi, and the Toreya – Ognevka sections of the BAM; from 80 to 90 kph at Shuba – Tulyushka section (the Transsib) and Parchum – Raz’ezd №9 section (the BAM).
The East-Siberian Railway is going to expand the share of continuous welded rails to 41% on the length of main tracks. For that, 345 kilometres of tracks will be laid on the sections of the Transsib and the BAM. Thank to that, the length of continuous welded rails on the area of the East-Siberian Railway will reach 2,572 kilometres. In addition, the railway plans to reconstruct 319 kilometres of tracks, capital repair of 130 kilometres and “medium” repair of 179 kilometres of tracks. Total investment in track repair will amount to RUB 6.8 billion.

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According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Service, sea ports of Ukraine handled 70.74 million tons of cargo in the 1st half of 2013, a 7.1% decline in comparison with the same period of the previous year.

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РЖД-Партнер

HSR Moscow – Kazan: Picking Up Speed

HSR Moscow – Kazan: Picking Up Speed

The idea of constructing separate high-speed railways (HSR) in Russia for trains moving at speeds of over 300 kph has been in development for several years. Initially, the Moscow – St Petersburg route was considered the pilot project, and now the Moscow – Kazan line is being discussed as the basic one.

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Historical background

A high speed railway is a special electrified double-track rail line for trains moving at speeds between 200 and 400 kph. The idea to construct HSR appeared in the Soviet Union for the first time in the 1960’s, but the situation in the state was never favourable for organising high-speed traffic. In particular, an investment mechanism for HSR construction (government guarantee for the attraction of private capital) was developed in the 1990’s, the feasibility study was made, and the location for the HSR construction was prepared. Simultaneously, the “Sokol” high-speed train was designed, built, and tested. However, the default in 1998 damaged funding, the rates of its implementation became slower, and a number of projects stopped. The discussion about the project recommenced only in 2004, when Igor Levitin, ex-Minister of Transport, advocated the construction of the HSR.
Railwaymen adopted “the Programme of the Organisation of Fast and High-Speed Traffic on the Railway Network till 2020” in 2006. However, few of 21 projects have been carried out so far. The fast passenger trains were launched on normal railways, although reconstructed, but not specialised, which limits the speed the trains can achieve. The first high-speed train “Sapsan” travels between Moscow and St Petersburg at speeds of up to 250 kph, but the train can reach this speed only at a 180 km long section, which is a part of the total infrastructure.

Investors Will Appear

According to the General Scheme of the Railway Network Development till 2030, 4,253 km of high speed railways are to be constructed, and 6,942 km of railways for fast trains are to be put into operation. The cost of the first project Moscow – Kazan, the decision about which seems to have been made, can be RUB 928 billion, of which RUB 650 billion is the governmental grant (another RUB 315 billion of governmental subsidies will be needed at the implementation stage), and the rest will be private investment. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, noted that if funds from the National Welfare Fund are attracted, the governmental funding can be reduced from RUB 650 billion to RUB 371 billion.
A joint venture with a strategic investor will be launched on the basis of RZD’s subsidiary Skorostnye Magistrali building the first HSR. The investor will be selected after the project documents are developed. According to V. Yakunin, many large financial institutions and foreign construction companies have showed their interest in the project. 
Moreover, several competitions for rail sections construction will be carried out. This will allow two or three international consortia to participate in the HSR construction. It will be done to speed up the construction process, to attract different technologies and the experience of companies from Europe and Asia.
Lev Ruzavin, an expert-analyst at the Railway Passenger Transportation Research Department at the Institute of Natural Monopolies, believes that private investors will join the project only after the state decides about long-term juridical and financial guarantees for the project participants, and the amount of governmental funding, which averages approximately 70% in developed countries. The final scheme of funding will be made after the design specifications and estimates are ready. Then, the construction costs, project timeline, and the organisational and legal model will be specified too. It will take RZD a year to refine all these details.

A Promising Route


The first high-speed line will be constructed by 2018. According to the plan of works in 2013-2014 prepared by the Transport Ministry, the design documentation for the HSR construction must be prepared before the first quarter of 2015. The passenger flow on the route is forecast to reach 7.4 million people by 2019 (taking into account the traffic between other stopping points: Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow – Vladimir, etc.).
The creation of this route is explained by a number of factors. Authorities believe that the main objective of HSR is the creation of a transport network linking regions: the Moscow – Kazan railway crosses six regions, links five regional capitals and three metropolitan areas – Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan. This will increase people’s mobility and transport options. After the HSR is put into operation, the journey time on the Moscow – Kazan line will reduce from 11.5 to 3.3 hours. Also, it will contribute to the development of the Volga region, the Ural region, and transit via these areas.
The passenger flow is crucially important for the payback of HSR. For passengers to prefer a high-speed railway, the ticket price must be competitive with the price of other transport modes. According to preliminary data, the cost of journey on the Moscow – Kazan railway will vary between 1 and 10 roubles per a kilometer depending on the type of a railcar. It was calculated on the basis of tariffs on high-speed transportation in other countries. The length of HSR will be 803 km, thus, the minimum ticket price will be 803 roubles, and the maximum – 8,030 roubles. The medium tariff will be 3,788 roubles.  

For Everyone’s Benefit


The President of RZD noted that the trillion roubles spent on the HSR construction will turn into five trillion roubles in the form of new jobs, plants, and taxes. Moreover, high-speed trains will restrict the growth in prices for air tickets. Russian industry will benefit too: in the framework of the project, national business will get orders for construction materials for over RUB 270 billion, and for machinery and the line arrangement – up to RUB 100 billion. “One should not think that HSR is a panacea for inflation and a recession in the economy,” says Sergey Parsegov, expert at Pokrovka Finance company. “Examples of Vysokoskorostnye Magistrali and “Sokol” train must be a reminder that any good initiative in Russia can turn into multi-billion losses and damages.”
Anyway, everyone expects that the project will have large-scale positive effects. In the words of Alexander Misharin, First Vice President of RZD, the creation of an integrated fast and high-speed railway network will free up currently operating lines for freight traffic, and to use the HSR for high-speed trains, night fast trains running at a speed of 200-250 kph, and fast container trains.
L. Ruzavin believes that Russia needs fast and high-speed trains. “The state cannot exist and develop in conditions of limited transport mobility of people,” explains the expert. In his opinion, the launch of high-speed traffic to the Urals region and the South of Russia is a promising project, because these routes are popular with people, especially in summer, with large industrial and recreational centres within Russia and cities with million-plus populations are concentrated there.
Anyway, in the next few years RZD will carry out an ambitious project, the largest in the company’s history, which will give a powerful stimulus to the Russian economy, and contribute to the appearance of high tech plants and new jobs. Naturally, the cost of a high-speed mainline is significant, but the benefits from its construction will cover all its expenses. ®
By Stanislav Russkov

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Historical background

A high speed railway is a special electrified double-track rail line for trains moving at speeds between 200 and 400 kph. The idea to construct HSR appeared in the Soviet Union for the first time in the 1960’s, but the situation in the state was never favourable for organising high-speed traffic. In particular, an investment mechanism for HSR construction (government guarantee for the attraction of private capital) was developed in the 1990’s, the feasibility study was made, and the location for the HSR construction was prepared. Simultaneously, the “Sokol” high-speed train was designed, built, and tested. However, the default in 1998 damaged funding, the rates of its implementation became slower, and a number of projects stopped. The discussion about the project recommenced only in 2004, when Igor Levitin, ex-Minister of Transport, advocated the construction of the HSR.
Railwaymen adopted “the Programme of the Organisation of Fast and High-Speed Traffic on the Railway Network till 2020” in 2006. However, few of 21 projects have been carried out so far. The fast passenger trains were launched on normal railways, although reconstructed, but not specialised, which limits the speed the trains can achieve. The first high-speed train “Sapsan” travels between Moscow and St Petersburg at speeds of up to 250 kph, but the train can reach this speed only at a 180 km long section, which is a part of the total infrastructure.

Investors Will Appear

According to the General Scheme of the Railway Network Development till 2030, 4,253 km of high speed railways are to be constructed, and 6,942 km of railways for fast trains are to be put into operation. The cost of the first project Moscow – Kazan, the decision about which seems to have been made, can be RUB 928 billion, of which RUB 650 billion is the governmental grant (another RUB 315 billion of governmental subsidies will be needed at the implementation stage), and the rest will be private investment. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, noted that if funds from the National Welfare Fund are attracted, the governmental funding can be reduced from RUB 650 billion to RUB 371 billion.
A joint venture with a strategic investor will be launched on the basis of RZD’s subsidiary Skorostnye Magistrali building the first HSR. The investor will be selected after the project documents are developed. According to V. Yakunin, many large financial institutions and foreign construction companies have showed their interest in the project. 
Moreover, several competitions for rail sections construction will be carried out. This will allow two or three international consortia to participate in the HSR construction. It will be done to speed up the construction process, to attract different technologies and the experience of companies from Europe and Asia.
Lev Ruzavin, an expert-analyst at the Railway Passenger Transportation Research Department at the Institute of Natural Monopolies, believes that private investors will join the project only after the state decides about long-term juridical and financial guarantees for the project participants, and the amount of governmental funding, which averages approximately 70% in developed countries. The final scheme of funding will be made after the design specifications and estimates are ready. Then, the construction costs, project timeline, and the organisational and legal model will be specified too. It will take RZD a year to refine all these details.

A Promising Route


The first high-speed line will be constructed by 2018. According to the plan of works in 2013-2014 prepared by the Transport Ministry, the design documentation for the HSR construction must be prepared before the first quarter of 2015. The passenger flow on the route is forecast to reach 7.4 million people by 2019 (taking into account the traffic between other stopping points: Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow – Vladimir, etc.).
The creation of this route is explained by a number of factors. Authorities believe that the main objective of HSR is the creation of a transport network linking regions: the Moscow – Kazan railway crosses six regions, links five regional capitals and three metropolitan areas – Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan. This will increase people’s mobility and transport options. After the HSR is put into operation, the journey time on the Moscow – Kazan line will reduce from 11.5 to 3.3 hours. Also, it will contribute to the development of the Volga region, the Ural region, and transit via these areas.
The passenger flow is crucially important for the payback of HSR. For passengers to prefer a high-speed railway, the ticket price must be competitive with the price of other transport modes. According to preliminary data, the cost of journey on the Moscow – Kazan railway will vary between 1 and 10 roubles per a kilometer depending on the type of a railcar. It was calculated on the basis of tariffs on high-speed transportation in other countries. The length of HSR will be 803 km, thus, the minimum ticket price will be 803 roubles, and the maximum – 8,030 roubles. The medium tariff will be 3,788 roubles.  

For Everyone’s Benefit


The President of RZD noted that the trillion roubles spent on the HSR construction will turn into five trillion roubles in the form of new jobs, plants, and taxes. Moreover, high-speed trains will restrict the growth in prices for air tickets. Russian industry will benefit too: in the framework of the project, national business will get orders for construction materials for over RUB 270 billion, and for machinery and the line arrangement – up to RUB 100 billion. “One should not think that HSR is a panacea for inflation and a recession in the economy,” says Sergey Parsegov, expert at Pokrovka Finance company. “Examples of Vysokoskorostnye Magistrali and “Sokol” train must be a reminder that any good initiative in Russia can turn into multi-billion losses and damages.”
Anyway, everyone expects that the project will have large-scale positive effects. In the words of Alexander Misharin, First Vice President of RZD, the creation of an integrated fast and high-speed railway network will free up currently operating lines for freight traffic, and to use the HSR for high-speed trains, night fast trains running at a speed of 200-250 kph, and fast container trains.
L. Ruzavin believes that Russia needs fast and high-speed trains. “The state cannot exist and develop in conditions of limited transport mobility of people,” explains the expert. In his opinion, the launch of high-speed traffic to the Urals region and the South of Russia is a promising project, because these routes are popular with people, especially in summer, with large industrial and recreational centres within Russia and cities with million-plus populations are concentrated there.
Anyway, in the next few years RZD will carry out an ambitious project, the largest in the company’s history, which will give a powerful stimulus to the Russian economy, and contribute to the appearance of high tech plants and new jobs. Naturally, the cost of a high-speed mainline is significant, but the benefits from its construction will cover all its expenses. ®
By Stanislav Russkov

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The idea of constructing separate high-speed railways (HSR) in Russia for trains moving at speeds of over 300 kph has been in development for several years. Initially, the Moscow – St Petersburg route was considered the pilot project, and now the Moscow – Kazan line is being discussed as the basic one.

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Historical background

A high speed railway is a special electrified double-track rail line for trains moving at speeds between 200 and 400 kph. The idea to construct HSR appeared in the Soviet Union for the first time in the 1960’s, but the situation in the state was never favourable for organising high-speed traffic. In particular, an investment mechanism for HSR construction (government guarantee for the attraction of private capital) was developed in the 1990’s, the feasibility study was made, and the location for the HSR construction was prepared. Simultaneously, the “Sokol” high-speed train was designed, built, and tested. However, the default in 1998 damaged funding, the rates of its implementation became slower, and a number of projects stopped. The discussion about the project recommenced only in 2004, when Igor Levitin, ex-Minister of Transport, advocated the construction of the HSR.
Railwaymen adopted “the Programme of the Organisation of Fast and High-Speed Traffic on the Railway Network till 2020” in 2006. However, few of 21 projects have been carried out so far. The fast passenger trains were launched on normal railways, although reconstructed, but not specialised, which limits the speed the trains can achieve. The first high-speed train “Sapsan” travels between Moscow and St Petersburg at speeds of up to 250 kph, but the train can reach this speed only at a 180 km long section, which is a part of the total infrastructure.

Investors Will Appear

According to the General Scheme of the Railway Network Development till 2030, 4,253 km of high speed railways are to be constructed, and 6,942 km of railways for fast trains are to be put into operation. The cost of the first project Moscow – Kazan, the decision about which seems to have been made, can be RUB 928 billion, of which RUB 650 billion is the governmental grant (another RUB 315 billion of governmental subsidies will be needed at the implementation stage), and the rest will be private investment. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, noted that if funds from the National Welfare Fund are attracted, the governmental funding can be reduced from RUB 650 billion to RUB 371 billion.
A joint venture with a strategic investor will be launched on the basis of RZD’s subsidiary Skorostnye Magistrali building the first HSR. The investor will be selected after the project documents are developed. According to V. Yakunin, many large financial institutions and foreign construction companies have showed their interest in the project. 
Moreover, several competitions for rail sections construction will be carried out. This will allow two or three international consortia to participate in the HSR construction. It will be done to speed up the construction process, to attract different technologies and the experience of companies from Europe and Asia.
Lev Ruzavin, an expert-analyst at the Railway Passenger Transportation Research Department at the Institute of Natural Monopolies, believes that private investors will join the project only after the state decides about long-term juridical and financial guarantees for the project participants, and the amount of governmental funding, which averages approximately 70% in developed countries. The final scheme of funding will be made after the design specifications and estimates are ready. Then, the construction costs, project timeline, and the organisational and legal model will be specified too. It will take RZD a year to refine all these details.

A Promising Route


The first high-speed line will be constructed by 2018. According to the plan of works in 2013-2014 prepared by the Transport Ministry, the design documentation for the HSR construction must be prepared before the first quarter of 2015. The passenger flow on the route is forecast to reach 7.4 million people by 2019 (taking into account the traffic between other stopping points: Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow – Vladimir, etc.).
The creation of this route is explained by a number of factors. Authorities believe that the main objective of HSR is the creation of a transport network linking regions: the Moscow – Kazan railway crosses six regions, links five regional capitals and three metropolitan areas – Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan. This will increase people’s mobility and transport options. After the HSR is put into operation, the journey time on the Moscow – Kazan line will reduce from 11.5 to 3.3 hours. Also, it will contribute to the development of the Volga region, the Ural region, and transit via these areas.
The passenger flow is crucially important for the payback of HSR. For passengers to prefer a high-speed railway, the ticket price must be competitive with the price of other transport modes. According to preliminary data, the cost of journey on the Moscow – Kazan railway will vary between 1 and 10 roubles per a kilometer depending on the type of a railcar. It was calculated on the basis of tariffs on high-speed transportation in other countries. The length of HSR will be 803 km, thus, the minimum ticket price will be 803 roubles, and the maximum – 8,030 roubles. The medium tariff will be 3,788 roubles.  

For Everyone’s Benefit


The President of RZD noted that the trillion roubles spent on the HSR construction will turn into five trillion roubles in the form of new jobs, plants, and taxes. Moreover, high-speed trains will restrict the growth in prices for air tickets. Russian industry will benefit too: in the framework of the project, national business will get orders for construction materials for over RUB 270 billion, and for machinery and the line arrangement – up to RUB 100 billion. “One should not think that HSR is a panacea for inflation and a recession in the economy,” says Sergey Parsegov, expert at Pokrovka Finance company. “Examples of Vysokoskorostnye Magistrali and “Sokol” train must be a reminder that any good initiative in Russia can turn into multi-billion losses and damages.”
Anyway, everyone expects that the project will have large-scale positive effects. In the words of Alexander Misharin, First Vice President of RZD, the creation of an integrated fast and high-speed railway network will free up currently operating lines for freight traffic, and to use the HSR for high-speed trains, night fast trains running at a speed of 200-250 kph, and fast container trains.
L. Ruzavin believes that Russia needs fast and high-speed trains. “The state cannot exist and develop in conditions of limited transport mobility of people,” explains the expert. In his opinion, the launch of high-speed traffic to the Urals region and the South of Russia is a promising project, because these routes are popular with people, especially in summer, with large industrial and recreational centres within Russia and cities with million-plus populations are concentrated there.
Anyway, in the next few years RZD will carry out an ambitious project, the largest in the company’s history, which will give a powerful stimulus to the Russian economy, and contribute to the appearance of high tech plants and new jobs. Naturally, the cost of a high-speed mainline is significant, but the benefits from its construction will cover all its expenses. ®
By Stanislav Russkov

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Historical background

A high speed railway is a special electrified double-track rail line for trains moving at speeds between 200 and 400 kph. The idea to construct HSR appeared in the Soviet Union for the first time in the 1960’s, but the situation in the state was never favourable for organising high-speed traffic. In particular, an investment mechanism for HSR construction (government guarantee for the attraction of private capital) was developed in the 1990’s, the feasibility study was made, and the location for the HSR construction was prepared. Simultaneously, the “Sokol” high-speed train was designed, built, and tested. However, the default in 1998 damaged funding, the rates of its implementation became slower, and a number of projects stopped. The discussion about the project recommenced only in 2004, when Igor Levitin, ex-Minister of Transport, advocated the construction of the HSR.
Railwaymen adopted “the Programme of the Organisation of Fast and High-Speed Traffic on the Railway Network till 2020” in 2006. However, few of 21 projects have been carried out so far. The fast passenger trains were launched on normal railways, although reconstructed, but not specialised, which limits the speed the trains can achieve. The first high-speed train “Sapsan” travels between Moscow and St Petersburg at speeds of up to 250 kph, but the train can reach this speed only at a 180 km long section, which is a part of the total infrastructure.

Investors Will Appear

According to the General Scheme of the Railway Network Development till 2030, 4,253 km of high speed railways are to be constructed, and 6,942 km of railways for fast trains are to be put into operation. The cost of the first project Moscow – Kazan, the decision about which seems to have been made, can be RUB 928 billion, of which RUB 650 billion is the governmental grant (another RUB 315 billion of governmental subsidies will be needed at the implementation stage), and the rest will be private investment. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, noted that if funds from the National Welfare Fund are attracted, the governmental funding can be reduced from RUB 650 billion to RUB 371 billion.
A joint venture with a strategic investor will be launched on the basis of RZD’s subsidiary Skorostnye Magistrali building the first HSR. The investor will be selected after the project documents are developed. According to V. Yakunin, many large financial institutions and foreign construction companies have showed their interest in the project. 
Moreover, several competitions for rail sections construction will be carried out. This will allow two or three international consortia to participate in the HSR construction. It will be done to speed up the construction process, to attract different technologies and the experience of companies from Europe and Asia.
Lev Ruzavin, an expert-analyst at the Railway Passenger Transportation Research Department at the Institute of Natural Monopolies, believes that private investors will join the project only after the state decides about long-term juridical and financial guarantees for the project participants, and the amount of governmental funding, which averages approximately 70% in developed countries. The final scheme of funding will be made after the design specifications and estimates are ready. Then, the construction costs, project timeline, and the organisational and legal model will be specified too. It will take RZD a year to refine all these details.

A Promising Route


The first high-speed line will be constructed by 2018. According to the plan of works in 2013-2014 prepared by the Transport Ministry, the design documentation for the HSR construction must be prepared before the first quarter of 2015. The passenger flow on the route is forecast to reach 7.4 million people by 2019 (taking into account the traffic between other stopping points: Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow – Vladimir, etc.).
The creation of this route is explained by a number of factors. Authorities believe that the main objective of HSR is the creation of a transport network linking regions: the Moscow – Kazan railway crosses six regions, links five regional capitals and three metropolitan areas – Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan. This will increase people’s mobility and transport options. After the HSR is put into operation, the journey time on the Moscow – Kazan line will reduce from 11.5 to 3.3 hours. Also, it will contribute to the development of the Volga region, the Ural region, and transit via these areas.
The passenger flow is crucially important for the payback of HSR. For passengers to prefer a high-speed railway, the ticket price must be competitive with the price of other transport modes. According to preliminary data, the cost of journey on the Moscow – Kazan railway will vary between 1 and 10 roubles per a kilometer depending on the type of a railcar. It was calculated on the basis of tariffs on high-speed transportation in other countries. The length of HSR will be 803 km, thus, the minimum ticket price will be 803 roubles, and the maximum – 8,030 roubles. The medium tariff will be 3,788 roubles.  

For Everyone’s Benefit


The President of RZD noted that the trillion roubles spent on the HSR construction will turn into five trillion roubles in the form of new jobs, plants, and taxes. Moreover, high-speed trains will restrict the growth in prices for air tickets. Russian industry will benefit too: in the framework of the project, national business will get orders for construction materials for over RUB 270 billion, and for machinery and the line arrangement – up to RUB 100 billion. “One should not think that HSR is a panacea for inflation and a recession in the economy,” says Sergey Parsegov, expert at Pokrovka Finance company. “Examples of Vysokoskorostnye Magistrali and “Sokol” train must be a reminder that any good initiative in Russia can turn into multi-billion losses and damages.”
Anyway, everyone expects that the project will have large-scale positive effects. In the words of Alexander Misharin, First Vice President of RZD, the creation of an integrated fast and high-speed railway network will free up currently operating lines for freight traffic, and to use the HSR for high-speed trains, night fast trains running at a speed of 200-250 kph, and fast container trains.
L. Ruzavin believes that Russia needs fast and high-speed trains. “The state cannot exist and develop in conditions of limited transport mobility of people,” explains the expert. In his opinion, the launch of high-speed traffic to the Urals region and the South of Russia is a promising project, because these routes are popular with people, especially in summer, with large industrial and recreational centres within Russia and cities with million-plus populations are concentrated there.
Anyway, in the next few years RZD will carry out an ambitious project, the largest in the company’s history, which will give a powerful stimulus to the Russian economy, and contribute to the appearance of high tech plants and new jobs. Naturally, the cost of a high-speed mainline is significant, but the benefits from its construction will cover all its expenses. ®
By Stanislav Russkov

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The idea of constructing separate high-speed railways (HSR) in Russia for trains moving at speeds of over 300 kph has been in development for several years. Initially, the Moscow – St Petersburg route was considered the pilot project, and now the Moscow – Kazan line is being discussed as the basic one.

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The idea of constructing separate high-speed railways (HSR) in Russia for trains moving at speeds of over 300 kph has been in development for several years. Initially, the Moscow – St Petersburg route was considered the pilot project, and now the Moscow – Kazan line is being discussed as the basic one.

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РЖД-Партнер

The Hard Road to Tavan Tolgoi

The Hard Road to Tavan Tolgoi

The process of developing the Mongolian coal deposit Tavan Tolgoi, envisaging the construction of essential infrastructure, has gone into overdrive. The railways of Mongolia and Samsung C&T signed an agreement about the construction of a new railway. A month later,
the decision about foreign investors, including amongst others, the ex-President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, was made. Experts say that Mongolia is building the railway with 1,520 mm gauge to have more than one customer buying coal – China.

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Strategic Partnership

Russian Railways have been a strategic partner of Mongolia in the modernisation and development of infrastructure for a long time. Ulan-Bator Railway was built by Soviet specialists back in 1949 (now it is a Russian-Mongolian joint venture with equal participation between the parties), and in 2009 RZD began to participate in managing the Ulan-Bator Railway. The status quo was once again confirmed by the Declaration of the Strategic Partnership Development, signed by the RF President Dmitry Medvedev during his visit to Mongolia. JV Development of Infrastructure was mentioned in the document. RZD participated in launching the JV, and now it is fully owned by the Russian party: RZD bought the 25% stakes of their partners - Mongol Temir Zam and Erdenes MGL in August 2012.

RZD Heads the Consortium

Plans for the JV Development of Infrastructure related to the interest in Mongolia’s richest coal deposit - Tavan Tolgoi, the reserves of which are evaluated at 6.5 billion tons of coking coal. The Russian monopoly was going to participate in the tendering process as part of a consortium, together with SUEK and partners from South Korea and Japan. The winner of the tender got the right to develop the western part of the deposit, coal reserves there are estimated at 5 billion tons (the other part belongs to the Mongolian public company Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi - ETT). One of the requirements of the bidders, apart the field development, was the construction of a 400-kilometer railway line with 1520 mm gauge from Tavan Tolgoi to Sayshand city with a link to the existing network of the Ulan-Bator Railway.
The Russian-Korean-Japanese bid envisages a complex logistics chain for coal supplies to consumers in China and in other countries. The consortium also planned the modernisation of the Ulan-Bator Railway to increase its carrying capacity and the usage of SUEK’s port capacities in the Far East region.

New Tenders


In summer 2011, the government of Mongolia decided that the consortium headed by RZD would have a 36% stake in the project. In this case, the alliance led by China Shenhua Energy would have a 40% stake, and Peabody Energy (the USA) – 24%. The Russian party was not satisfied with this decision. “The Mongolian side is still maneuvering between us, the Americans, the Chinese, the Japanese, and others to identify the best ways to achieve their economic and political goals. We are not enthusiastic about the variants they have offered,” that’s how Vladimir Yakunin commented on the situation. In December 2012, the tender was postponed till the middle of 2013, but it has never been held. Meanwhile, the Mongolian party succeeded in “maneuvering” and “identifying”, and in organising new tenders. 
In 2010, the Mongolian government approved the project “New Railway”, envisaging construction of 5,600 km of new tracks in three stages with the participation of foreign companies. In November 2012,Mongol Temir Zam company (MTZ), specially launched for that, got the license for the first two stages of the project, envisaging construction of 1,900 km of railway. An international tender for the construction of a new 1520 mm railway line in two directions from Tavan Tolgoi was announced. Only a 49% stake was offered to investors, and the state kept a 51% stake. The next stage of the tender was held in late June of 2012. Chinese investors willing to buy a stake in the port of Dandong (Yellow Sea), and Eurasia Finance fund, owned by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, participated in it. In the words of the President of FIDE and the ex-President of Kalmykia, his investment fund received 26% of the project for about $1.2 billion, the Chinese party got 20%, and the Mongolian party - 3%.
The first phase of the project will begin soon. Last May, the railways of Mongolia and Samsung C&T signed an agreement for construction of a 217-kilometer railway line with 1520 mm gauge linking the coal mine in Tavan Tolgoi and the China-Mongolia border. The $483-million contract is to be carried out within 30 months of signature of the agreement. The second phase is the construction of a 1,040-kilometre railway linking the coal deposit and the Choibalsan station of the Ulan-Bator Railway. The cost of the first two phases of the project is forecast to reach $5.2 billion, the cargo flow can exceed 30 million tons per annum. The payback period is 114 months with 13.5% profitability. Transportation on separate railway sections must begin in 2015.

Experts’ Viewpoints

Alexander Lopatnikov, Managing Director at American Appraisal (AAP) Inc. believes that Mongolia has always been interested in transporting its freight not only to China. “Such an unconventional decision about constructing a railway with the Russian gauge to the Chinese border with the prospect of additional expenditure on reloading because of different size of gauges (about three dollars for a ton of cargo) shows that Mongolia, which is the main importer of coal to China, does not want to depend on a monopoly customer. Mongolian coal can be imported by Japan, Korean, and even Russian companies. Therefore, the project of the northern section of the railway line to Choibalsan is also relevant. It is quite expensive, however, from the risk management viewpoint, the decision to be non-dependant on one neighbour is sensible,” says the expert. He also notes that Mongolia is strategically interested in Russia’s participation in projects similar to Tavan Tolgoi, the other question is whether it can afford it economically.
Vladimir Terlovoi, Head of Metal Expert Consulting at Metal Courier agency, has a different opinion: “All coal will be transported to China. The diversification needed for such an amount of cargo is different for each region of this country. One can hardly explain the construction of one rail link to Choibalsan by the sales requirements. Perhaps, it will contribute to solving the problems of a lack of railways in Mongolia and coal sales in the country.”
If there is no information about details, it is difficult to evaluate the payback period, however, experts agree that the Mongolian deposit will have no problems with sales. “Mongolian coal is already carried to China by road transport, and it takes time to build commercial ties outside China,” believes A. Lopatnikov. “Distances in Mongolia are smaller than in Russia, and supplies can be organised more efficiently than in Russia,” thinks V. Terlovoi.

Coal Imports to China Increase


V. Terlovoi emphasises that Mongolia has enormous potential in extending its share in the Chinese imports. “Mongolia’s richest deposits are relatively close to the world’s centre of demand for all types of raw materials – China,” explains the expert. For the sake of comparison, Russian coal companies have further to transport cargoes to be supplied to the main sales markets – the Asian countries. According to ETT’s 2012 annual report, the company plans to expand the share of supplies from Tavan Tolgoi in the total coal imports to China to 52% by 2015 (it was 32% in 2010).
Analysts also mention for illustrative purposes data about coal imports into China and rates of growth in the volumes: in 2012, the country imported 289 million tons of coal, 30% more than in 2011. In January-April 2013, the increase in imports exceeded 25% year-on-year.
The reasons for such high rates are clear: the country is mining its richest deposits out, which causes an increase in expenses on extraction and processing. Simultaneously, high rates of the GDP growth require larger consumption of energy sources.

Amid Volatility

Plans for the development of Tavan Tolgoi, including construction of infrastructure, should be analysed taking global processes into consideration. In the first half of 2013, the situation in the Russian and global markets for thermal coal was characterised by a decline in prices amid product supply exceeding the demand because of the increased competition between suppliers of relatively cheap thermal coal from Indonesia, the USA, and Colombia. Since the beginning of the year, the level of export prices offered by, for example, South African and Australian suppliers fell 16% on average, and in the European market – 19%. Analysts forecast that there will be a moderate decline till the year-end.
 A. Lopatnikov thinks that there are some definite risks in the project of the deposit development and in the project of the railway construction, especially its northern section. “There is a simple and clear route for coal supplies to China, there is a wish to avoid making it the only consumer, and there are a lot of arguments that the new railway could stimulate other mining companies. It is an equation with too many unknowns,” says the expert. One should take into account that any large infrastructure project is now complicated because of the high level of volatility in exchange commodity markets, it is difficult to verify forecasts, and even the largest market players are perplexed by the lack of clear prospects for the development of the sector and the economy.
By Marina Ermolenko

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Strategic Partnership

Russian Railways have been a strategic partner of Mongolia in the modernisation and development of infrastructure for a long time. Ulan-Bator Railway was built by Soviet specialists back in 1949 (now it is a Russian-Mongolian joint venture with equal participation between the parties), and in 2009 RZD began to participate in managing the Ulan-Bator Railway. The status quo was once again confirmed by the Declaration of the Strategic Partnership Development, signed by the RF President Dmitry Medvedev during his visit to Mongolia. JV Development of Infrastructure was mentioned in the document. RZD participated in launching the JV, and now it is fully owned by the Russian party: RZD bought the 25% stakes of their partners - Mongol Temir Zam and Erdenes MGL in August 2012.

RZD Heads the Consortium

Plans for the JV Development of Infrastructure related to the interest in Mongolia’s richest coal deposit - Tavan Tolgoi, the reserves of which are evaluated at 6.5 billion tons of coking coal. The Russian monopoly was going to participate in the tendering process as part of a consortium, together with SUEK and partners from South Korea and Japan. The winner of the tender got the right to develop the western part of the deposit, coal reserves there are estimated at 5 billion tons (the other part belongs to the Mongolian public company Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi - ETT). One of the requirements of the bidders, apart the field development, was the construction of a 400-kilometer railway line with 1520 mm gauge from Tavan Tolgoi to Sayshand city with a link to the existing network of the Ulan-Bator Railway.
The Russian-Korean-Japanese bid envisages a complex logistics chain for coal supplies to consumers in China and in other countries. The consortium also planned the modernisation of the Ulan-Bator Railway to increase its carrying capacity and the usage of SUEK’s port capacities in the Far East region.

New Tenders


In summer 2011, the government of Mongolia decided that the consortium headed by RZD would have a 36% stake in the project. In this case, the alliance led by China Shenhua Energy would have a 40% stake, and Peabody Energy (the USA) – 24%. The Russian party was not satisfied with this decision. “The Mongolian side is still maneuvering between us, the Americans, the Chinese, the Japanese, and others to identify the best ways to achieve their economic and political goals. We are not enthusiastic about the variants they have offered,” that’s how Vladimir Yakunin commented on the situation. In December 2012, the tender was postponed till the middle of 2013, but it has never been held. Meanwhile, the Mongolian party succeeded in “maneuvering” and “identifying”, and in organising new tenders. 
In 2010, the Mongolian government approved the project “New Railway”, envisaging construction of 5,600 km of new tracks in three stages with the participation of foreign companies. In November 2012,Mongol Temir Zam company (MTZ), specially launched for that, got the license for the first two stages of the project, envisaging construction of 1,900 km of railway. An international tender for the construction of a new 1520 mm railway line in two directions from Tavan Tolgoi was announced. Only a 49% stake was offered to investors, and the state kept a 51% stake. The next stage of the tender was held in late June of 2012. Chinese investors willing to buy a stake in the port of Dandong (Yellow Sea), and Eurasia Finance fund, owned by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, participated in it. In the words of the President of FIDE and the ex-President of Kalmykia, his investment fund received 26% of the project for about $1.2 billion, the Chinese party got 20%, and the Mongolian party - 3%.
The first phase of the project will begin soon. Last May, the railways of Mongolia and Samsung C&T signed an agreement for construction of a 217-kilometer railway line with 1520 mm gauge linking the coal mine in Tavan Tolgoi and the China-Mongolia border. The $483-million contract is to be carried out within 30 months of signature of the agreement. The second phase is the construction of a 1,040-kilometre railway linking the coal deposit and the Choibalsan station of the Ulan-Bator Railway. The cost of the first two phases of the project is forecast to reach $5.2 billion, the cargo flow can exceed 30 million tons per annum. The payback period is 114 months with 13.5% profitability. Transportation on separate railway sections must begin in 2015.

Experts’ Viewpoints

Alexander Lopatnikov, Managing Director at American Appraisal (AAP) Inc. believes that Mongolia has always been interested in transporting its freight not only to China. “Such an unconventional decision about constructing a railway with the Russian gauge to the Chinese border with the prospect of additional expenditure on reloading because of different size of gauges (about three dollars for a ton of cargo) shows that Mongolia, which is the main importer of coal to China, does not want to depend on a monopoly customer. Mongolian coal can be imported by Japan, Korean, and even Russian companies. Therefore, the project of the northern section of the railway line to Choibalsan is also relevant. It is quite expensive, however, from the risk management viewpoint, the decision to be non-dependant on one neighbour is sensible,” says the expert. He also notes that Mongolia is strategically interested in Russia’s participation in projects similar to Tavan Tolgoi, the other question is whether it can afford it economically.
Vladimir Terlovoi, Head of Metal Expert Consulting at Metal Courier agency, has a different opinion: “All coal will be transported to China. The diversification needed for such an amount of cargo is different for each region of this country. One can hardly explain the construction of one rail link to Choibalsan by the sales requirements. Perhaps, it will contribute to solving the problems of a lack of railways in Mongolia and coal sales in the country.”
If there is no information about details, it is difficult to evaluate the payback period, however, experts agree that the Mongolian deposit will have no problems with sales. “Mongolian coal is already carried to China by road transport, and it takes time to build commercial ties outside China,” believes A. Lopatnikov. “Distances in Mongolia are smaller than in Russia, and supplies can be organised more efficiently than in Russia,” thinks V. Terlovoi.

Coal Imports to China Increase


V. Terlovoi emphasises that Mongolia has enormous potential in extending its share in the Chinese imports. “Mongolia’s richest deposits are relatively close to the world’s centre of demand for all types of raw materials – China,” explains the expert. For the sake of comparison, Russian coal companies have further to transport cargoes to be supplied to the main sales markets – the Asian countries. According to ETT’s 2012 annual report, the company plans to expand the share of supplies from Tavan Tolgoi in the total coal imports to China to 52% by 2015 (it was 32% in 2010).
Analysts also mention for illustrative purposes data about coal imports into China and rates of growth in the volumes: in 2012, the country imported 289 million tons of coal, 30% more than in 2011. In January-April 2013, the increase in imports exceeded 25% year-on-year.
The reasons for such high rates are clear: the country is mining its richest deposits out, which causes an increase in expenses on extraction and processing. Simultaneously, high rates of the GDP growth require larger consumption of energy sources.

Amid Volatility

Plans for the development of Tavan Tolgoi, including construction of infrastructure, should be analysed taking global processes into consideration. In the first half of 2013, the situation in the Russian and global markets for thermal coal was characterised by a decline in prices amid product supply exceeding the demand because of the increased competition between suppliers of relatively cheap thermal coal from Indonesia, the USA, and Colombia. Since the beginning of the year, the level of export prices offered by, for example, South African and Australian suppliers fell 16% on average, and in the European market – 19%. Analysts forecast that there will be a moderate decline till the year-end.
 A. Lopatnikov thinks that there are some definite risks in the project of the deposit development and in the project of the railway construction, especially its northern section. “There is a simple and clear route for coal supplies to China, there is a wish to avoid making it the only consumer, and there are a lot of arguments that the new railway could stimulate other mining companies. It is an equation with too many unknowns,” says the expert. One should take into account that any large infrastructure project is now complicated because of the high level of volatility in exchange commodity markets, it is difficult to verify forecasts, and even the largest market players are perplexed by the lack of clear prospects for the development of the sector and the economy.
By Marina Ermolenko

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The process of developing the Mongolian coal deposit Tavan Tolgoi, envisaging the construction of essential infrastructure, has gone into overdrive. The railways of Mongolia and Samsung C&T signed an agreement about the construction of a new railway. A month later,
the decision about foreign investors, including amongst others, the ex-President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, was made. Experts say that Mongolia is building the railway with 1,520 mm gauge to have more than one customer buying coal – China.

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

The process of developing the Mongolian coal deposit Tavan Tolgoi, envisaging the construction of essential infrastructure, has gone into overdrive. The railways of Mongolia and Samsung C&T signed an agreement about the construction of a new railway. A month later,
the decision about foreign investors, including amongst others, the ex-President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, was made. Experts say that Mongolia is building the railway with 1,520 mm gauge to have more than one customer buying coal – China.

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Strategic Partnership

Russian Railways have been a strategic partner of Mongolia in the modernisation and development of infrastructure for a long time. Ulan-Bator Railway was built by Soviet specialists back in 1949 (now it is a Russian-Mongolian joint venture with equal participation between the parties), and in 2009 RZD began to participate in managing the Ulan-Bator Railway. The status quo was once again confirmed by the Declaration of the Strategic Partnership Development, signed by the RF President Dmitry Medvedev during his visit to Mongolia. JV Development of Infrastructure was mentioned in the document. RZD participated in launching the JV, and now it is fully owned by the Russian party: RZD bought the 25% stakes of their partners - Mongol Temir Zam and Erdenes MGL in August 2012.

RZD Heads the Consortium

Plans for the JV Development of Infrastructure related to the interest in Mongolia’s richest coal deposit - Tavan Tolgoi, the reserves of which are evaluated at 6.5 billion tons of coking coal. The Russian monopoly was going to participate in the tendering process as part of a consortium, together with SUEK and partners from South Korea and Japan. The winner of the tender got the right to develop the western part of the deposit, coal reserves there are estimated at 5 billion tons (the other part belongs to the Mongolian public company Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi - ETT). One of the requirements of the bidders, apart the field development, was the construction of a 400-kilometer railway line with 1520 mm gauge from Tavan Tolgoi to Sayshand city with a link to the existing network of the Ulan-Bator Railway.
The Russian-Korean-Japanese bid envisages a complex logistics chain for coal supplies to consumers in China and in other countries. The consortium also planned the modernisation of the Ulan-Bator Railway to increase its carrying capacity and the usage of SUEK’s port capacities in the Far East region.

New Tenders


In summer 2011, the government of Mongolia decided that the consortium headed by RZD would have a 36% stake in the project. In this case, the alliance led by China Shenhua Energy would have a 40% stake, and Peabody Energy (the USA) – 24%. The Russian party was not satisfied with this decision. “The Mongolian side is still maneuvering between us, the Americans, the Chinese, the Japanese, and others to identify the best ways to achieve their economic and political goals. We are not enthusiastic about the variants they have offered,” that’s how Vladimir Yakunin commented on the situation. In December 2012, the tender was postponed till the middle of 2013, but it has never been held. Meanwhile, the Mongolian party succeeded in “maneuvering” and “identifying”, and in organising new tenders. 
In 2010, the Mongolian government approved the project “New Railway”, envisaging construction of 5,600 km of new tracks in three stages with the participation of foreign companies. In November 2012,Mongol Temir Zam company (MTZ), specially launched for that, got the license for the first two stages of the project, envisaging construction of 1,900 km of railway. An international tender for the construction of a new 1520 mm railway line in two directions from Tavan Tolgoi was announced. Only a 49% stake was offered to investors, and the state kept a 51% stake. The next stage of the tender was held in late June of 2012. Chinese investors willing to buy a stake in the port of Dandong (Yellow Sea), and Eurasia Finance fund, owned by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, participated in it. In the words of the President of FIDE and the ex-President of Kalmykia, his investment fund received 26% of the project for about $1.2 billion, the Chinese party got 20%, and the Mongolian party - 3%.
The first phase of the project will begin soon. Last May, the railways of Mongolia and Samsung C&T signed an agreement for construction of a 217-kilometer railway line with 1520 mm gauge linking the coal mine in Tavan Tolgoi and the China-Mongolia border. The $483-million contract is to be carried out within 30 months of signature of the agreement. The second phase is the construction of a 1,040-kilometre railway linking the coal deposit and the Choibalsan station of the Ulan-Bator Railway. The cost of the first two phases of the project is forecast to reach $5.2 billion, the cargo flow can exceed 30 million tons per annum. The payback period is 114 months with 13.5% profitability. Transportation on separate railway sections must begin in 2015.

Experts’ Viewpoints

Alexander Lopatnikov, Managing Director at American Appraisal (AAP) Inc. believes that Mongolia has always been interested in transporting its freight not only to China. “Such an unconventional decision about constructing a railway with the Russian gauge to the Chinese border with the prospect of additional expenditure on reloading because of different size of gauges (about three dollars for a ton of cargo) shows that Mongolia, which is the main importer of coal to China, does not want to depend on a monopoly customer. Mongolian coal can be imported by Japan, Korean, and even Russian companies. Therefore, the project of the northern section of the railway line to Choibalsan is also relevant. It is quite expensive, however, from the risk management viewpoint, the decision to be non-dependant on one neighbour is sensible,” says the expert. He also notes that Mongolia is strategically interested in Russia’s participation in projects similar to Tavan Tolgoi, the other question is whether it can afford it economically.
Vladimir Terlovoi, Head of Metal Expert Consulting at Metal Courier agency, has a different opinion: “All coal will be transported to China. The diversification needed for such an amount of cargo is different for each region of this country. One can hardly explain the construction of one rail link to Choibalsan by the sales requirements. Perhaps, it will contribute to solving the problems of a lack of railways in Mongolia and coal sales in the country.”
If there is no information about details, it is difficult to evaluate the payback period, however, experts agree that the Mongolian deposit will have no problems with sales. “Mongolian coal is already carried to China by road transport, and it takes time to build commercial ties outside China,” believes A. Lopatnikov. “Distances in Mongolia are smaller than in Russia, and supplies can be organised more efficiently than in Russia,” thinks V. Terlovoi.

Coal Imports to China Increase


V. Terlovoi emphasises that Mongolia has enormous potential in extending its share in the Chinese imports. “Mongolia’s richest deposits are relatively close to the world’s centre of demand for all types of raw materials – China,” explains the expert. For the sake of comparison, Russian coal companies have further to transport cargoes to be supplied to the main sales markets – the Asian countries. According to ETT’s 2012 annual report, the company plans to expand the share of supplies from Tavan Tolgoi in the total coal imports to China to 52% by 2015 (it was 32% in 2010).
Analysts also mention for illustrative purposes data about coal imports into China and rates of growth in the volumes: in 2012, the country imported 289 million tons of coal, 30% more than in 2011. In January-April 2013, the increase in imports exceeded 25% year-on-year.
The reasons for such high rates are clear: the country is mining its richest deposits out, which causes an increase in expenses on extraction and processing. Simultaneously, high rates of the GDP growth require larger consumption of energy sources.

Amid Volatility

Plans for the development of Tavan Tolgoi, including construction of infrastructure, should be analysed taking global processes into consideration. In the first half of 2013, the situation in the Russian and global markets for thermal coal was characterised by a decline in prices amid product supply exceeding the demand because of the increased competition between suppliers of relatively cheap thermal coal from Indonesia, the USA, and Colombia. Since the beginning of the year, the level of export prices offered by, for example, South African and Australian suppliers fell 16% on average, and in the European market – 19%. Analysts forecast that there will be a moderate decline till the year-end.
 A. Lopatnikov thinks that there are some definite risks in the project of the deposit development and in the project of the railway construction, especially its northern section. “There is a simple and clear route for coal supplies to China, there is a wish to avoid making it the only consumer, and there are a lot of arguments that the new railway could stimulate other mining companies. It is an equation with too many unknowns,” says the expert. One should take into account that any large infrastructure project is now complicated because of the high level of volatility in exchange commodity markets, it is difficult to verify forecasts, and even the largest market players are perplexed by the lack of clear prospects for the development of the sector and the economy.
By Marina Ermolenko

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Strategic Partnership

Russian Railways have been a strategic partner of Mongolia in the modernisation and development of infrastructure for a long time. Ulan-Bator Railway was built by Soviet specialists back in 1949 (now it is a Russian-Mongolian joint venture with equal participation between the parties), and in 2009 RZD began to participate in managing the Ulan-Bator Railway. The status quo was once again confirmed by the Declaration of the Strategic Partnership Development, signed by the RF President Dmitry Medvedev during his visit to Mongolia. JV Development of Infrastructure was mentioned in the document. RZD participated in launching the JV, and now it is fully owned by the Russian party: RZD bought the 25% stakes of their partners - Mongol Temir Zam and Erdenes MGL in August 2012.

RZD Heads the Consortium

Plans for the JV Development of Infrastructure related to the interest in Mongolia’s richest coal deposit - Tavan Tolgoi, the reserves of which are evaluated at 6.5 billion tons of coking coal. The Russian monopoly was going to participate in the tendering process as part of a consortium, together with SUEK and partners from South Korea and Japan. The winner of the tender got the right to develop the western part of the deposit, coal reserves there are estimated at 5 billion tons (the other part belongs to the Mongolian public company Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi - ETT). One of the requirements of the bidders, apart the field development, was the construction of a 400-kilometer railway line with 1520 mm gauge from Tavan Tolgoi to Sayshand city with a link to the existing network of the Ulan-Bator Railway.
The Russian-Korean-Japanese bid envisages a complex logistics chain for coal supplies to consumers in China and in other countries. The consortium also planned the modernisation of the Ulan-Bator Railway to increase its carrying capacity and the usage of SUEK’s port capacities in the Far East region.

New Tenders


In summer 2011, the government of Mongolia decided that the consortium headed by RZD would have a 36% stake in the project. In this case, the alliance led by China Shenhua Energy would have a 40% stake, and Peabody Energy (the USA) – 24%. The Russian party was not satisfied with this decision. “The Mongolian side is still maneuvering between us, the Americans, the Chinese, the Japanese, and others to identify the best ways to achieve their economic and political goals. We are not enthusiastic about the variants they have offered,” that’s how Vladimir Yakunin commented on the situation. In December 2012, the tender was postponed till the middle of 2013, but it has never been held. Meanwhile, the Mongolian party succeeded in “maneuvering” and “identifying”, and in organising new tenders. 
In 2010, the Mongolian government approved the project “New Railway”, envisaging construction of 5,600 km of new tracks in three stages with the participation of foreign companies. In November 2012,Mongol Temir Zam company (MTZ), specially launched for that, got the license for the first two stages of the project, envisaging construction of 1,900 km of railway. An international tender for the construction of a new 1520 mm railway line in two directions from Tavan Tolgoi was announced. Only a 49% stake was offered to investors, and the state kept a 51% stake. The next stage of the tender was held in late June of 2012. Chinese investors willing to buy a stake in the port of Dandong (Yellow Sea), and Eurasia Finance fund, owned by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, participated in it. In the words of the President of FIDE and the ex-President of Kalmykia, his investment fund received 26% of the project for about $1.2 billion, the Chinese party got 20%, and the Mongolian party - 3%.
The first phase of the project will begin soon. Last May, the railways of Mongolia and Samsung C&T signed an agreement for construction of a 217-kilometer railway line with 1520 mm gauge linking the coal mine in Tavan Tolgoi and the China-Mongolia border. The $483-million contract is to be carried out within 30 months of signature of the agreement. The second phase is the construction of a 1,040-kilometre railway linking the coal deposit and the Choibalsan station of the Ulan-Bator Railway. The cost of the first two phases of the project is forecast to reach $5.2 billion, the cargo flow can exceed 30 million tons per annum. The payback period is 114 months with 13.5% profitability. Transportation on separate railway sections must begin in 2015.

Experts’ Viewpoints

Alexander Lopatnikov, Managing Director at American Appraisal (AAP) Inc. believes that Mongolia has always been interested in transporting its freight not only to China. “Such an unconventional decision about constructing a railway with the Russian gauge to the Chinese border with the prospect of additional expenditure on reloading because of different size of gauges (about three dollars for a ton of cargo) shows that Mongolia, which is the main importer of coal to China, does not want to depend on a monopoly customer. Mongolian coal can be imported by Japan, Korean, and even Russian companies. Therefore, the project of the northern section of the railway line to Choibalsan is also relevant. It is quite expensive, however, from the risk management viewpoint, the decision to be non-dependant on one neighbour is sensible,” says the expert. He also notes that Mongolia is strategically interested in Russia’s participation in projects similar to Tavan Tolgoi, the other question is whether it can afford it economically.
Vladimir Terlovoi, Head of Metal Expert Consulting at Metal Courier agency, has a different opinion: “All coal will be transported to China. The diversification needed for such an amount of cargo is different for each region of this country. One can hardly explain the construction of one rail link to Choibalsan by the sales requirements. Perhaps, it will contribute to solving the problems of a lack of railways in Mongolia and coal sales in the country.”
If there is no information about details, it is difficult to evaluate the payback period, however, experts agree that the Mongolian deposit will have no problems with sales. “Mongolian coal is already carried to China by road transport, and it takes time to build commercial ties outside China,” believes A. Lopatnikov. “Distances in Mongolia are smaller than in Russia, and supplies can be organised more efficiently than in Russia,” thinks V. Terlovoi.

Coal Imports to China Increase


V. Terlovoi emphasises that Mongolia has enormous potential in extending its share in the Chinese imports. “Mongolia’s richest deposits are relatively close to the world’s centre of demand for all types of raw materials – China,” explains the expert. For the sake of comparison, Russian coal companies have further to transport cargoes to be supplied to the main sales markets – the Asian countries. According to ETT’s 2012 annual report, the company plans to expand the share of supplies from Tavan Tolgoi in the total coal imports to China to 52% by 2015 (it was 32% in 2010).
Analysts also mention for illustrative purposes data about coal imports into China and rates of growth in the volumes: in 2012, the country imported 289 million tons of coal, 30% more than in 2011. In January-April 2013, the increase in imports exceeded 25% year-on-year.
The reasons for such high rates are clear: the country is mining its richest deposits out, which causes an increase in expenses on extraction and processing. Simultaneously, high rates of the GDP growth require larger consumption of energy sources.

Amid Volatility

Plans for the development of Tavan Tolgoi, including construction of infrastructure, should be analysed taking global processes into consideration. In the first half of 2013, the situation in the Russian and global markets for thermal coal was characterised by a decline in prices amid product supply exceeding the demand because of the increased competition between suppliers of relatively cheap thermal coal from Indonesia, the USA, and Colombia. Since the beginning of the year, the level of export prices offered by, for example, South African and Australian suppliers fell 16% on average, and in the European market – 19%. Analysts forecast that there will be a moderate decline till the year-end.
 A. Lopatnikov thinks that there are some definite risks in the project of the deposit development and in the project of the railway construction, especially its northern section. “There is a simple and clear route for coal supplies to China, there is a wish to avoid making it the only consumer, and there are a lot of arguments that the new railway could stimulate other mining companies. It is an equation with too many unknowns,” says the expert. One should take into account that any large infrastructure project is now complicated because of the high level of volatility in exchange commodity markets, it is difficult to verify forecasts, and even the largest market players are perplexed by the lack of clear prospects for the development of the sector and the economy.
By Marina Ermolenko

[DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [~DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

The process of developing the Mongolian coal deposit Tavan Tolgoi, envisaging the construction of essential infrastructure, has gone into overdrive. The railways of Mongolia and Samsung C&T signed an agreement about the construction of a new railway. A month later,
the decision about foreign investors, including amongst others, the ex-President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, was made. Experts say that Mongolia is building the railway with 1,520 mm gauge to have more than one customer buying coal – China.

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

The process of developing the Mongolian coal deposit Tavan Tolgoi, envisaging the construction of essential infrastructure, has gone into overdrive. The railways of Mongolia and Samsung C&T signed an agreement about the construction of a new railway. A month later,
the decision about foreign investors, including amongst others, the ex-President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, was made. Experts say that Mongolia is building the railway with 1,520 mm gauge to have more than one customer buying coal – China.

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РЖД-Партнер

Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships

Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships

A strategic priority of RZD’s international activity is the fulfillment of Russia’s transit potential and the integration of the national
railway network into the Eurasian transport and logistics system.
Alexander Saltanov,  RZD’s Vice President for International Activity, talks about projects being carried out in the sector, and about interaction with foreign partners.

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Five Elements of Integration

– Mr Saltanov, what is your opinion about the current level of Russian Railways’ integration into the global transport system?

– The process of integration into the Eurasian transport space is gathering pace. Therefore, a priority of RZD’s international activity is the work targeted at creating the railway infrastructure for a North – South international transport corridor and attracting transit freight to the East – West transcontinental lines of transport. The North – South international transport corridor is an important route necessary for organising transit traffic between the European countries and the states of the Transcaucasia, the Persian Gulf, and Asia. Creation of this route will be completed in the next several years. This will allow creation for the first time in history of a 4,500km long railway link between St Petersburg and the Bandar Abbas port on the Persian Gulf.
In its turn, the East-West international transport corridor provides cargoes from Russia, Europe, and the CIS with direct access to the Far Eastern Russian sea ports and border crossings at the border between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. The backbone of this corridor is the Trans-Siberian Mainline.
RZD is carrying out a number of projects, which will contribute to making railway transportation via Russia more attractive for transit cargoes on the Asia – Europe route. The Programme of Actions for the Development of Container Transportation by Rail Using the Trans-Siberian Mainline till 2015 was developed and approved in 2009. In accordance with this, the “Transsib in 7 Days” transport product is being introduced to the market. The conditions for transportation have been optimised on the Transsib, a stage-by-stage work is underway to lift traffic speed restrictions at stations and railway hauls. The speed of block trains there is 1,200 km per day.
In May 2013, RZD together with TransContainer and Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (a part of Global Ports) launched a regular express container service on the Nakhodka-Vostochnaya – Moskva-Tovarnaya-Paveletskaya route. The pilot train, the length of which was 71 conventional wagons, left Nakhodka-Vostochnaya on May 1, and arrived at the destination point in seven days, moving non-stop, without entering marshalling yards. Express container trains on this route are formed twice a week now, and soon their frequency will increase to three times a week.
The high level of integration of Russian Railways into the global transport system is the result of work done by the holding company in five major areas:
• the balanced development of the technical and technological parameters of sections of the international transport corridors passing through Russia, due to the successive increase in the carrying capacity of the infrastructure and the creation of conditions for servicing prospective traffic;
• the organisation of new routes for freight delivery, including containers, from the Asian and Pacific Region (APR) to Europe, and back (for example, the Chongqing - Duisburg, Duisburg - Moscow, and Shanghai - Duisburg);
• the cooperation with international railway organisations to solve issues related to the legal harmonisation of the transportation process, the unification of technical standards and transport technologies;
• ensuring efficient interaction between the railway administrations of “1520 space”.
• strengthening Russian Railways’ position in the European logistics market and introducing modern logistics technologies of the 3PL/4PL level (for this purpose, as you know, RZD acquired a 75% stake in GEFCO).

Expanding Boundaries

– Does RZD participate in any foreign railway infrastructure development projects?

– The Concept for Managing Infrastructure Projects by RZD Holding Company Abroad was approved last year. A specialised subsidiary of RZD International was launched in accordance with the Concept. It is engaged in searching, studying, managing, and developing the holding company’s infrastructure projects abroad.
A priority is the development of Ulan-Bator Railway JSC and the construction of new railway infrastructure in Mongolia. This project is of great importance for the development of railway transit traffic between Europe and Asia and the creation of a new route for containerised cargoes carried from China to Europe and back. 
The reconstruction of the Khasan – Rason (North Korea) railway and the construction of a cargo terminal in the Rason port are being completed. As a reminder, the project is carried out in accordance with the arrangements reached by the RF President Vladimir Putin and the Head of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-il in 2000. Transportation on the Tumangan – Rason section is to start in Q3 2013. Construction works in the Rason port are to be completed before December 2013.
In 2012, 34 Korean specialists were trained at the Training Centre of the Far Eastern Railway (in Ussuriysk) at RZD’s expense. They will use the Khasan – Rason railway. Also, it is planned to create a single dispatching control centre with the participation of specialists of JV RasonConTrans and Railway Transport Company Tongchang of the Ministry of Railways of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to control the traffic and provide interaction with the whole railway network of North Korea. Also, instructions and the train timetable will be developed. In future, the recommencement of traffic on the whole Trans-Korean Mainline will allow transit via the Trans-Siberian Mainline the lion’s share of the cargo flow from South Korea to Europe, Russia, and the CIS countries and in the reverse direction.
On May 23, 2013, RZD and Railways of Serbia JSC signed a contract for the reconstruction and modernisation of the Serbian railway. Strengthening the bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Serbia through a governmental export loan of $800 million given by the Russian Federation, is a long-term priority for us. Apart from the reconstruction of several railway sections, the contract envisages the supply of 26 diesel trains produced by Metrovagonmash OJSC (Russia).
Simultaneously, we are analysing the opportunity to recommence a project in Libya, stopped in 2011 because of the armed conflict and disorders in the country. Prospective projects we are considering are the construction of railway infrastructure in Jordan, Kuwait, Namibia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and other countries.

– In what phase is the project of extension the broad gauge from Kosice (Slovakia) to Bratislava with an entry to Vienna now?

– I would like to mention that we talk about not the project of extending the broad gauge track to European countries, but about construction of a new transport corridor.
The project was approved at the highest political level of the countries interested in it. Works are underway, the railway administrations and transport departments of Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Austria are cooperating on the basis of signed memoranda and bilateral agreements and arrangements fixed in the protocols of intergovernmental commissions for trade and economic and research and technical cooperation.
Moreover, in 2009, the four parties launched a joint venture with Breitspur Planungsgesellschaft. Its experts made the preliminary feasibility study of the project. The main stages of the project have been defined. It will be carried out in accordance with the legislation of the European Union and the countries, where engineering design and construction works will be done.
In the second half of 2012, an important decision was made to begin forming tender documentation, preparing to announce the tender on making an in-depth feasibility study, which is an important condition for getting permission engineering design works in Slovakia and Austria. When preparing the tender, experts are developing the tender documentation, the order, and the basic stages of the bidding process. It has been adjusted so that the feasibility study will include the analysis of environmental consequences, the final route and the terms of the project land allocation, the development of the business plan, the funding model, and the planned cargo flow. On the agreement of the parties, Austrian Railways are in charge of the procedural preparation of the tender documentation and the bidding process. The new Eurasian transport corridor will contribute to reducing the time of freight delivery from Europe to Asia to 12-14 days and making cargo handling at joint stations for changing to another railway gauge unnecessary.

– What work is carried out in cooperation with rolling stock producers from other countries?

– RZD’s main partners in this sphere are companies such as Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier, Talgo, Tatravagonka, Knorr-Bremse, and other leaders in the transport machine building sector. A priority for the joint works is the localisation of state-of-the-art rolling stock production in Russia.
In cooperation with Siemens, we started mass production and implementation of the two unit 8-axle electric freight locomotive with asynchronous traction motor of the 2ES10 model (“Granite”). This locomotive is manufactured by the Urals Locomotives LLC (a joint venture between the Sinara group of companies and Siemens). 221 “Granite” electric locomotives are to be produced and supplied to RZD until 2016.
Also, RZD, in cooperation with Siemens, continues to carry out the project on the development and supply of “Lastochka” passenger electric trains of the ES1 model (series Desiro RUS) to Russian Railways. The production of these trains will also be localised in Russia by Urals Locomotives. Out of 54 trains scheduled for delivery, 16 will be assembled in this country. At the first stage, the trains are designed to provide passenger transportation during the Olympic Games in Sochi, and later they will be used for commuter passenger transportation in different regions of the country. Currently, it is one of the largest projects of technologies transfer in Russia.
Taking into account the growth in passenger demand for travelling by “Sapsan” trains, we decided to increase their fleet and purchase in addition to the available eight trains as many again. They will be put into operation on the Moscow – St Petersburg line in 2015.
In partnership with the French company Alstom, we completed the development and put into operation the dual-system locomotive model EP20 in December 2012. Also, joint works were continued to provide full maintenance of the “Allegro” trains (service the St Petersburg – Helsinki route) and improving its performance figures; and to organise the production of small-scale mechanisation facilities in partnership with the French company Geismar.

Strengthening Positions


– What does RZD focus on within the framework of international organisations?

– Lately, the cooperation with international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations has reached a new high. In 2007, RZD recommenced its membership of the International Union of Railways (the UIC), and since then the company has been strengthening its position within this organisation gradually. On December 12, 2012, President of RZD Vladimir Yakunin was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the UIC for 2013-2014 with an option for a two-year extension.
RZD developed the Programme of Activity for the UIC in 2013-2014. Special attention was paid to standardisation and legal harmonisation, the expansion of the UIC’s participation in forming global transport policy and cooperation in the traffic safety sphere.
Specialists at RZD take an active role in the activity of almost all working bodies within the UIC. Work is currently under way in all main sectors: passenger and cargo transportation, standardisation, efficient use of resources and energy, traffic safety, protection against acts of unlawful interference, management of railway stations, healthcare on railway transport, scientific research activity, etc.
RZD’s interaction with the Organisation for Co-Operation between Railways (OSJD) is focused on fulfilling a number of objectives by updating the current regulatory and legal base and developing a new one, regulating all aspects of the railways’ functioning. The cooperation with the European Railway Agency (ERA) gathers pace within the framework of the ERA – OSJD line. Moreover, specialists at RZD take part in the main working bodies of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). RZD is the only company authorised by the RF Government to represent Russia’s interests in the UNECE and its subsidiary bodies.
An important sphere of RZD’s and UNECE’s cooperation is the development of the intergovernmental agreement about transport and logistics complexes – off-dock terminals. The participation of the company’s specialists in the development and introduction of the agreement will allow them to study the construction and development of off-dock terminals in the countries of the Asian and Pacific Region, providing coordination between cargo operators, and will contribute to the simplification of transcontinental cargo transportation and the development of the transit potential of the Russian transport system.
A lot of attention is paid to the interaction with railway administrations in the CIS and Baltic States with the 1,520 mm railway gauge. For over 20 years, the main body for this work is the Council for Rail Transport of CIS States. Its priorities are the development of a single system of transport links between countries – members of the Common Economic Space, which is formed on the basis of the Customs Union of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, and the Republic of Kazakhstan; and the launch of Integrated Transport and Logistics Company (ITLC) by the railway administrations of the three countries, which must become the basic building blocks of this system.  
Within the framework of the Council, joint projects for express railway passenger transportation to Latvia (Moscow - Riga), Ukraine (Moscow – Kharkov, Moscow - Donetsk), and Lithuania (the direction to the Kaliningrad region) are developed. The project for express passenger trains on the route Moscow – Minsk – Warsaw – Berlin is also discussed. Projects for information support to international railway transportation are being carried out. They are aimed to provide the online transfer of data from bill of lading for exports and imports transportation.
In cooperation with Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian Railways we continue to implement paperless technology for cargo transportation in private railcars, and for the transportation of empty wagons from Russia to Ukraine, Belarus, and back. A decision about the issue of digital e-signatures is being made. We are preparing to joint data exchange between Russia, Latvia, and Estonia about trains in order to provide preliminary information to customs bodies.

– What effect can Russia’s joining the WTO have for the Russian railway system?   

– Russia’s joining the WTO can strengthen its role in the foreign economic system. At the same time, it will create a number of new important objectives for RZD, including keeping the railway competitive, finalising the unification of tariff policy in the sector of domestic and international transportation, and coordinated development of measures to compensate for losses caused by the tariff unification.
These objectives can be successfully fulfilled through joint work with the Russian state bodies and our international partners, especially with the railways of the EU states. Full-fledged inclusion of the Russian railway sector into the trade and economic framework of the WTO depends directly on the integration efforts and on the removal of regulative and administrative barriers between railways.

– What are RZD’s international objectives in 2013?

– This year, we have several key objectives. First of all, strengthening the cooperation with the railway administrations of the Council for Rail Transport of CIS States, among other things, through the development of the transport and logistics infrastructure and functioning of the Customs Union, the Common Economic Space, and the Eurasian Economic Union.
RZD holding company intends to expand its presence in the international infrastructure markets, which assists the integration of Russian railways into the world transport system. The strategic cooperation with partners from the Asian and Pacific Region will develop in the sector of transportation by rail, logistics, and carrying out joint investment projects. Also, there is a target to strengthen the holding company’s leading role in the international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, using its chairmanship of the UIC.
I’d like to note that since the beginning of the year RZD has signed a number of important international agreements and contracts, which will contribute to the integration of the national railway network into the international transport system and the development of the company. ®
Interviewed by Elena Ushkova 

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Five Elements of Integration

– Mr Saltanov, what is your opinion about the current level of Russian Railways’ integration into the global transport system?

– The process of integration into the Eurasian transport space is gathering pace. Therefore, a priority of RZD’s international activity is the work targeted at creating the railway infrastructure for a North – South international transport corridor and attracting transit freight to the East – West transcontinental lines of transport. The North – South international transport corridor is an important route necessary for organising transit traffic between the European countries and the states of the Transcaucasia, the Persian Gulf, and Asia. Creation of this route will be completed in the next several years. This will allow creation for the first time in history of a 4,500km long railway link between St Petersburg and the Bandar Abbas port on the Persian Gulf.
In its turn, the East-West international transport corridor provides cargoes from Russia, Europe, and the CIS with direct access to the Far Eastern Russian sea ports and border crossings at the border between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. The backbone of this corridor is the Trans-Siberian Mainline.
RZD is carrying out a number of projects, which will contribute to making railway transportation via Russia more attractive for transit cargoes on the Asia – Europe route. The Programme of Actions for the Development of Container Transportation by Rail Using the Trans-Siberian Mainline till 2015 was developed and approved in 2009. In accordance with this, the “Transsib in 7 Days” transport product is being introduced to the market. The conditions for transportation have been optimised on the Transsib, a stage-by-stage work is underway to lift traffic speed restrictions at stations and railway hauls. The speed of block trains there is 1,200 km per day.
In May 2013, RZD together with TransContainer and Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (a part of Global Ports) launched a regular express container service on the Nakhodka-Vostochnaya – Moskva-Tovarnaya-Paveletskaya route. The pilot train, the length of which was 71 conventional wagons, left Nakhodka-Vostochnaya on May 1, and arrived at the destination point in seven days, moving non-stop, without entering marshalling yards. Express container trains on this route are formed twice a week now, and soon their frequency will increase to three times a week.
The high level of integration of Russian Railways into the global transport system is the result of work done by the holding company in five major areas:
• the balanced development of the technical and technological parameters of sections of the international transport corridors passing through Russia, due to the successive increase in the carrying capacity of the infrastructure and the creation of conditions for servicing prospective traffic;
• the organisation of new routes for freight delivery, including containers, from the Asian and Pacific Region (APR) to Europe, and back (for example, the Chongqing - Duisburg, Duisburg - Moscow, and Shanghai - Duisburg);
• the cooperation with international railway organisations to solve issues related to the legal harmonisation of the transportation process, the unification of technical standards and transport technologies;
• ensuring efficient interaction between the railway administrations of “1520 space”.
• strengthening Russian Railways’ position in the European logistics market and introducing modern logistics technologies of the 3PL/4PL level (for this purpose, as you know, RZD acquired a 75% stake in GEFCO).

Expanding Boundaries

– Does RZD participate in any foreign railway infrastructure development projects?

– The Concept for Managing Infrastructure Projects by RZD Holding Company Abroad was approved last year. A specialised subsidiary of RZD International was launched in accordance with the Concept. It is engaged in searching, studying, managing, and developing the holding company’s infrastructure projects abroad.
A priority is the development of Ulan-Bator Railway JSC and the construction of new railway infrastructure in Mongolia. This project is of great importance for the development of railway transit traffic between Europe and Asia and the creation of a new route for containerised cargoes carried from China to Europe and back. 
The reconstruction of the Khasan – Rason (North Korea) railway and the construction of a cargo terminal in the Rason port are being completed. As a reminder, the project is carried out in accordance with the arrangements reached by the RF President Vladimir Putin and the Head of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-il in 2000. Transportation on the Tumangan – Rason section is to start in Q3 2013. Construction works in the Rason port are to be completed before December 2013.
In 2012, 34 Korean specialists were trained at the Training Centre of the Far Eastern Railway (in Ussuriysk) at RZD’s expense. They will use the Khasan – Rason railway. Also, it is planned to create a single dispatching control centre with the participation of specialists of JV RasonConTrans and Railway Transport Company Tongchang of the Ministry of Railways of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to control the traffic and provide interaction with the whole railway network of North Korea. Also, instructions and the train timetable will be developed. In future, the recommencement of traffic on the whole Trans-Korean Mainline will allow transit via the Trans-Siberian Mainline the lion’s share of the cargo flow from South Korea to Europe, Russia, and the CIS countries and in the reverse direction.
On May 23, 2013, RZD and Railways of Serbia JSC signed a contract for the reconstruction and modernisation of the Serbian railway. Strengthening the bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Serbia through a governmental export loan of $800 million given by the Russian Federation, is a long-term priority for us. Apart from the reconstruction of several railway sections, the contract envisages the supply of 26 diesel trains produced by Metrovagonmash OJSC (Russia).
Simultaneously, we are analysing the opportunity to recommence a project in Libya, stopped in 2011 because of the armed conflict and disorders in the country. Prospective projects we are considering are the construction of railway infrastructure in Jordan, Kuwait, Namibia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and other countries.

– In what phase is the project of extension the broad gauge from Kosice (Slovakia) to Bratislava with an entry to Vienna now?

– I would like to mention that we talk about not the project of extending the broad gauge track to European countries, but about construction of a new transport corridor.
The project was approved at the highest political level of the countries interested in it. Works are underway, the railway administrations and transport departments of Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Austria are cooperating on the basis of signed memoranda and bilateral agreements and arrangements fixed in the protocols of intergovernmental commissions for trade and economic and research and technical cooperation.
Moreover, in 2009, the four parties launched a joint venture with Breitspur Planungsgesellschaft. Its experts made the preliminary feasibility study of the project. The main stages of the project have been defined. It will be carried out in accordance with the legislation of the European Union and the countries, where engineering design and construction works will be done.
In the second half of 2012, an important decision was made to begin forming tender documentation, preparing to announce the tender on making an in-depth feasibility study, which is an important condition for getting permission engineering design works in Slovakia and Austria. When preparing the tender, experts are developing the tender documentation, the order, and the basic stages of the bidding process. It has been adjusted so that the feasibility study will include the analysis of environmental consequences, the final route and the terms of the project land allocation, the development of the business plan, the funding model, and the planned cargo flow. On the agreement of the parties, Austrian Railways are in charge of the procedural preparation of the tender documentation and the bidding process. The new Eurasian transport corridor will contribute to reducing the time of freight delivery from Europe to Asia to 12-14 days and making cargo handling at joint stations for changing to another railway gauge unnecessary.

– What work is carried out in cooperation with rolling stock producers from other countries?

– RZD’s main partners in this sphere are companies such as Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier, Talgo, Tatravagonka, Knorr-Bremse, and other leaders in the transport machine building sector. A priority for the joint works is the localisation of state-of-the-art rolling stock production in Russia.
In cooperation with Siemens, we started mass production and implementation of the two unit 8-axle electric freight locomotive with asynchronous traction motor of the 2ES10 model (“Granite”). This locomotive is manufactured by the Urals Locomotives LLC (a joint venture between the Sinara group of companies and Siemens). 221 “Granite” electric locomotives are to be produced and supplied to RZD until 2016.
Also, RZD, in cooperation with Siemens, continues to carry out the project on the development and supply of “Lastochka” passenger electric trains of the ES1 model (series Desiro RUS) to Russian Railways. The production of these trains will also be localised in Russia by Urals Locomotives. Out of 54 trains scheduled for delivery, 16 will be assembled in this country. At the first stage, the trains are designed to provide passenger transportation during the Olympic Games in Sochi, and later they will be used for commuter passenger transportation in different regions of the country. Currently, it is one of the largest projects of technologies transfer in Russia.
Taking into account the growth in passenger demand for travelling by “Sapsan” trains, we decided to increase their fleet and purchase in addition to the available eight trains as many again. They will be put into operation on the Moscow – St Petersburg line in 2015.
In partnership with the French company Alstom, we completed the development and put into operation the dual-system locomotive model EP20 in December 2012. Also, joint works were continued to provide full maintenance of the “Allegro” trains (service the St Petersburg – Helsinki route) and improving its performance figures; and to organise the production of small-scale mechanisation facilities in partnership with the French company Geismar.

Strengthening Positions


– What does RZD focus on within the framework of international organisations?

– Lately, the cooperation with international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations has reached a new high. In 2007, RZD recommenced its membership of the International Union of Railways (the UIC), and since then the company has been strengthening its position within this organisation gradually. On December 12, 2012, President of RZD Vladimir Yakunin was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the UIC for 2013-2014 with an option for a two-year extension.
RZD developed the Programme of Activity for the UIC in 2013-2014. Special attention was paid to standardisation and legal harmonisation, the expansion of the UIC’s participation in forming global transport policy and cooperation in the traffic safety sphere.
Specialists at RZD take an active role in the activity of almost all working bodies within the UIC. Work is currently under way in all main sectors: passenger and cargo transportation, standardisation, efficient use of resources and energy, traffic safety, protection against acts of unlawful interference, management of railway stations, healthcare on railway transport, scientific research activity, etc.
RZD’s interaction with the Organisation for Co-Operation between Railways (OSJD) is focused on fulfilling a number of objectives by updating the current regulatory and legal base and developing a new one, regulating all aspects of the railways’ functioning. The cooperation with the European Railway Agency (ERA) gathers pace within the framework of the ERA – OSJD line. Moreover, specialists at RZD take part in the main working bodies of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). RZD is the only company authorised by the RF Government to represent Russia’s interests in the UNECE and its subsidiary bodies.
An important sphere of RZD’s and UNECE’s cooperation is the development of the intergovernmental agreement about transport and logistics complexes – off-dock terminals. The participation of the company’s specialists in the development and introduction of the agreement will allow them to study the construction and development of off-dock terminals in the countries of the Asian and Pacific Region, providing coordination between cargo operators, and will contribute to the simplification of transcontinental cargo transportation and the development of the transit potential of the Russian transport system.
A lot of attention is paid to the interaction with railway administrations in the CIS and Baltic States with the 1,520 mm railway gauge. For over 20 years, the main body for this work is the Council for Rail Transport of CIS States. Its priorities are the development of a single system of transport links between countries – members of the Common Economic Space, which is formed on the basis of the Customs Union of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, and the Republic of Kazakhstan; and the launch of Integrated Transport and Logistics Company (ITLC) by the railway administrations of the three countries, which must become the basic building blocks of this system.  
Within the framework of the Council, joint projects for express railway passenger transportation to Latvia (Moscow - Riga), Ukraine (Moscow – Kharkov, Moscow - Donetsk), and Lithuania (the direction to the Kaliningrad region) are developed. The project for express passenger trains on the route Moscow – Minsk – Warsaw – Berlin is also discussed. Projects for information support to international railway transportation are being carried out. They are aimed to provide the online transfer of data from bill of lading for exports and imports transportation.
In cooperation with Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian Railways we continue to implement paperless technology for cargo transportation in private railcars, and for the transportation of empty wagons from Russia to Ukraine, Belarus, and back. A decision about the issue of digital e-signatures is being made. We are preparing to joint data exchange between Russia, Latvia, and Estonia about trains in order to provide preliminary information to customs bodies.

– What effect can Russia’s joining the WTO have for the Russian railway system?   

– Russia’s joining the WTO can strengthen its role in the foreign economic system. At the same time, it will create a number of new important objectives for RZD, including keeping the railway competitive, finalising the unification of tariff policy in the sector of domestic and international transportation, and coordinated development of measures to compensate for losses caused by the tariff unification.
These objectives can be successfully fulfilled through joint work with the Russian state bodies and our international partners, especially with the railways of the EU states. Full-fledged inclusion of the Russian railway sector into the trade and economic framework of the WTO depends directly on the integration efforts and on the removal of regulative and administrative barriers between railways.

– What are RZD’s international objectives in 2013?

– This year, we have several key objectives. First of all, strengthening the cooperation with the railway administrations of the Council for Rail Transport of CIS States, among other things, through the development of the transport and logistics infrastructure and functioning of the Customs Union, the Common Economic Space, and the Eurasian Economic Union.
RZD holding company intends to expand its presence in the international infrastructure markets, which assists the integration of Russian railways into the world transport system. The strategic cooperation with partners from the Asian and Pacific Region will develop in the sector of transportation by rail, logistics, and carrying out joint investment projects. Also, there is a target to strengthen the holding company’s leading role in the international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, using its chairmanship of the UIC.
I’d like to note that since the beginning of the year RZD has signed a number of important international agreements and contracts, which will contribute to the integration of the national railway network into the international transport system and the development of the company. ®
Interviewed by Elena Ushkova 

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A strategic priority of RZD’s international activity is the fulfillment of Russia’s transit potential and the integration of the national
railway network into the Eurasian transport and logistics system.
Alexander Saltanov,  RZD’s Vice President for International Activity, talks about projects being carried out in the sector, and about interaction with foreign partners.

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

A strategic priority of RZD’s international activity is the fulfillment of Russia’s transit potential and the integration of the national
railway network into the Eurasian transport and logistics system.
Alexander Saltanov,  RZD’s Vice President for International Activity, talks about projects being carried out in the sector, and about interaction with foreign partners.

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Five Elements of Integration

– Mr Saltanov, what is your opinion about the current level of Russian Railways’ integration into the global transport system?

– The process of integration into the Eurasian transport space is gathering pace. Therefore, a priority of RZD’s international activity is the work targeted at creating the railway infrastructure for a North – South international transport corridor and attracting transit freight to the East – West transcontinental lines of transport. The North – South international transport corridor is an important route necessary for organising transit traffic between the European countries and the states of the Transcaucasia, the Persian Gulf, and Asia. Creation of this route will be completed in the next several years. This will allow creation for the first time in history of a 4,500km long railway link between St Petersburg and the Bandar Abbas port on the Persian Gulf.
In its turn, the East-West international transport corridor provides cargoes from Russia, Europe, and the CIS with direct access to the Far Eastern Russian sea ports and border crossings at the border between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. The backbone of this corridor is the Trans-Siberian Mainline.
RZD is carrying out a number of projects, which will contribute to making railway transportation via Russia more attractive for transit cargoes on the Asia – Europe route. The Programme of Actions for the Development of Container Transportation by Rail Using the Trans-Siberian Mainline till 2015 was developed and approved in 2009. In accordance with this, the “Transsib in 7 Days” transport product is being introduced to the market. The conditions for transportation have been optimised on the Transsib, a stage-by-stage work is underway to lift traffic speed restrictions at stations and railway hauls. The speed of block trains there is 1,200 km per day.
In May 2013, RZD together with TransContainer and Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (a part of Global Ports) launched a regular express container service on the Nakhodka-Vostochnaya – Moskva-Tovarnaya-Paveletskaya route. The pilot train, the length of which was 71 conventional wagons, left Nakhodka-Vostochnaya on May 1, and arrived at the destination point in seven days, moving non-stop, without entering marshalling yards. Express container trains on this route are formed twice a week now, and soon their frequency will increase to three times a week.
The high level of integration of Russian Railways into the global transport system is the result of work done by the holding company in five major areas:
• the balanced development of the technical and technological parameters of sections of the international transport corridors passing through Russia, due to the successive increase in the carrying capacity of the infrastructure and the creation of conditions for servicing prospective traffic;
• the organisation of new routes for freight delivery, including containers, from the Asian and Pacific Region (APR) to Europe, and back (for example, the Chongqing - Duisburg, Duisburg - Moscow, and Shanghai - Duisburg);
• the cooperation with international railway organisations to solve issues related to the legal harmonisation of the transportation process, the unification of technical standards and transport technologies;
• ensuring efficient interaction between the railway administrations of “1520 space”.
• strengthening Russian Railways’ position in the European logistics market and introducing modern logistics technologies of the 3PL/4PL level (for this purpose, as you know, RZD acquired a 75% stake in GEFCO).

Expanding Boundaries

– Does RZD participate in any foreign railway infrastructure development projects?

– The Concept for Managing Infrastructure Projects by RZD Holding Company Abroad was approved last year. A specialised subsidiary of RZD International was launched in accordance with the Concept. It is engaged in searching, studying, managing, and developing the holding company’s infrastructure projects abroad.
A priority is the development of Ulan-Bator Railway JSC and the construction of new railway infrastructure in Mongolia. This project is of great importance for the development of railway transit traffic between Europe and Asia and the creation of a new route for containerised cargoes carried from China to Europe and back. 
The reconstruction of the Khasan – Rason (North Korea) railway and the construction of a cargo terminal in the Rason port are being completed. As a reminder, the project is carried out in accordance with the arrangements reached by the RF President Vladimir Putin and the Head of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-il in 2000. Transportation on the Tumangan – Rason section is to start in Q3 2013. Construction works in the Rason port are to be completed before December 2013.
In 2012, 34 Korean specialists were trained at the Training Centre of the Far Eastern Railway (in Ussuriysk) at RZD’s expense. They will use the Khasan – Rason railway. Also, it is planned to create a single dispatching control centre with the participation of specialists of JV RasonConTrans and Railway Transport Company Tongchang of the Ministry of Railways of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to control the traffic and provide interaction with the whole railway network of North Korea. Also, instructions and the train timetable will be developed. In future, the recommencement of traffic on the whole Trans-Korean Mainline will allow transit via the Trans-Siberian Mainline the lion’s share of the cargo flow from South Korea to Europe, Russia, and the CIS countries and in the reverse direction.
On May 23, 2013, RZD and Railways of Serbia JSC signed a contract for the reconstruction and modernisation of the Serbian railway. Strengthening the bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Serbia through a governmental export loan of $800 million given by the Russian Federation, is a long-term priority for us. Apart from the reconstruction of several railway sections, the contract envisages the supply of 26 diesel trains produced by Metrovagonmash OJSC (Russia).
Simultaneously, we are analysing the opportunity to recommence a project in Libya, stopped in 2011 because of the armed conflict and disorders in the country. Prospective projects we are considering are the construction of railway infrastructure in Jordan, Kuwait, Namibia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and other countries.

– In what phase is the project of extension the broad gauge from Kosice (Slovakia) to Bratislava with an entry to Vienna now?

– I would like to mention that we talk about not the project of extending the broad gauge track to European countries, but about construction of a new transport corridor.
The project was approved at the highest political level of the countries interested in it. Works are underway, the railway administrations and transport departments of Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Austria are cooperating on the basis of signed memoranda and bilateral agreements and arrangements fixed in the protocols of intergovernmental commissions for trade and economic and research and technical cooperation.
Moreover, in 2009, the four parties launched a joint venture with Breitspur Planungsgesellschaft. Its experts made the preliminary feasibility study of the project. The main stages of the project have been defined. It will be carried out in accordance with the legislation of the European Union and the countries, where engineering design and construction works will be done.
In the second half of 2012, an important decision was made to begin forming tender documentation, preparing to announce the tender on making an in-depth feasibility study, which is an important condition for getting permission engineering design works in Slovakia and Austria. When preparing the tender, experts are developing the tender documentation, the order, and the basic stages of the bidding process. It has been adjusted so that the feasibility study will include the analysis of environmental consequences, the final route and the terms of the project land allocation, the development of the business plan, the funding model, and the planned cargo flow. On the agreement of the parties, Austrian Railways are in charge of the procedural preparation of the tender documentation and the bidding process. The new Eurasian transport corridor will contribute to reducing the time of freight delivery from Europe to Asia to 12-14 days and making cargo handling at joint stations for changing to another railway gauge unnecessary.

– What work is carried out in cooperation with rolling stock producers from other countries?

– RZD’s main partners in this sphere are companies such as Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier, Talgo, Tatravagonka, Knorr-Bremse, and other leaders in the transport machine building sector. A priority for the joint works is the localisation of state-of-the-art rolling stock production in Russia.
In cooperation with Siemens, we started mass production and implementation of the two unit 8-axle electric freight locomotive with asynchronous traction motor of the 2ES10 model (“Granite”). This locomotive is manufactured by the Urals Locomotives LLC (a joint venture between the Sinara group of companies and Siemens). 221 “Granite” electric locomotives are to be produced and supplied to RZD until 2016.
Also, RZD, in cooperation with Siemens, continues to carry out the project on the development and supply of “Lastochka” passenger electric trains of the ES1 model (series Desiro RUS) to Russian Railways. The production of these trains will also be localised in Russia by Urals Locomotives. Out of 54 trains scheduled for delivery, 16 will be assembled in this country. At the first stage, the trains are designed to provide passenger transportation during the Olympic Games in Sochi, and later they will be used for commuter passenger transportation in different regions of the country. Currently, it is one of the largest projects of technologies transfer in Russia.
Taking into account the growth in passenger demand for travelling by “Sapsan” trains, we decided to increase their fleet and purchase in addition to the available eight trains as many again. They will be put into operation on the Moscow – St Petersburg line in 2015.
In partnership with the French company Alstom, we completed the development and put into operation the dual-system locomotive model EP20 in December 2012. Also, joint works were continued to provide full maintenance of the “Allegro” trains (service the St Petersburg – Helsinki route) and improving its performance figures; and to organise the production of small-scale mechanisation facilities in partnership with the French company Geismar.

Strengthening Positions


– What does RZD focus on within the framework of international organisations?

– Lately, the cooperation with international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations has reached a new high. In 2007, RZD recommenced its membership of the International Union of Railways (the UIC), and since then the company has been strengthening its position within this organisation gradually. On December 12, 2012, President of RZD Vladimir Yakunin was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the UIC for 2013-2014 with an option for a two-year extension.
RZD developed the Programme of Activity for the UIC in 2013-2014. Special attention was paid to standardisation and legal harmonisation, the expansion of the UIC’s participation in forming global transport policy and cooperation in the traffic safety sphere.
Specialists at RZD take an active role in the activity of almost all working bodies within the UIC. Work is currently under way in all main sectors: passenger and cargo transportation, standardisation, efficient use of resources and energy, traffic safety, protection against acts of unlawful interference, management of railway stations, healthcare on railway transport, scientific research activity, etc.
RZD’s interaction with the Organisation for Co-Operation between Railways (OSJD) is focused on fulfilling a number of objectives by updating the current regulatory and legal base and developing a new one, regulating all aspects of the railways’ functioning. The cooperation with the European Railway Agency (ERA) gathers pace within the framework of the ERA – OSJD line. Moreover, specialists at RZD take part in the main working bodies of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). RZD is the only company authorised by the RF Government to represent Russia’s interests in the UNECE and its subsidiary bodies.
An important sphere of RZD’s and UNECE’s cooperation is the development of the intergovernmental agreement about transport and logistics complexes – off-dock terminals. The participation of the company’s specialists in the development and introduction of the agreement will allow them to study the construction and development of off-dock terminals in the countries of the Asian and Pacific Region, providing coordination between cargo operators, and will contribute to the simplification of transcontinental cargo transportation and the development of the transit potential of the Russian transport system.
A lot of attention is paid to the interaction with railway administrations in the CIS and Baltic States with the 1,520 mm railway gauge. For over 20 years, the main body for this work is the Council for Rail Transport of CIS States. Its priorities are the development of a single system of transport links between countries – members of the Common Economic Space, which is formed on the basis of the Customs Union of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, and the Republic of Kazakhstan; and the launch of Integrated Transport and Logistics Company (ITLC) by the railway administrations of the three countries, which must become the basic building blocks of this system.  
Within the framework of the Council, joint projects for express railway passenger transportation to Latvia (Moscow - Riga), Ukraine (Moscow – Kharkov, Moscow - Donetsk), and Lithuania (the direction to the Kaliningrad region) are developed. The project for express passenger trains on the route Moscow – Minsk – Warsaw – Berlin is also discussed. Projects for information support to international railway transportation are being carried out. They are aimed to provide the online transfer of data from bill of lading for exports and imports transportation.
In cooperation with Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian Railways we continue to implement paperless technology for cargo transportation in private railcars, and for the transportation of empty wagons from Russia to Ukraine, Belarus, and back. A decision about the issue of digital e-signatures is being made. We are preparing to joint data exchange between Russia, Latvia, and Estonia about trains in order to provide preliminary information to customs bodies.

– What effect can Russia’s joining the WTO have for the Russian railway system?   

– Russia’s joining the WTO can strengthen its role in the foreign economic system. At the same time, it will create a number of new important objectives for RZD, including keeping the railway competitive, finalising the unification of tariff policy in the sector of domestic and international transportation, and coordinated development of measures to compensate for losses caused by the tariff unification.
These objectives can be successfully fulfilled through joint work with the Russian state bodies and our international partners, especially with the railways of the EU states. Full-fledged inclusion of the Russian railway sector into the trade and economic framework of the WTO depends directly on the integration efforts and on the removal of regulative and administrative barriers between railways.

– What are RZD’s international objectives in 2013?

– This year, we have several key objectives. First of all, strengthening the cooperation with the railway administrations of the Council for Rail Transport of CIS States, among other things, through the development of the transport and logistics infrastructure and functioning of the Customs Union, the Common Economic Space, and the Eurasian Economic Union.
RZD holding company intends to expand its presence in the international infrastructure markets, which assists the integration of Russian railways into the world transport system. The strategic cooperation with partners from the Asian and Pacific Region will develop in the sector of transportation by rail, logistics, and carrying out joint investment projects. Also, there is a target to strengthen the holding company’s leading role in the international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, using its chairmanship of the UIC.
I’d like to note that since the beginning of the year RZD has signed a number of important international agreements and contracts, which will contribute to the integration of the national railway network into the international transport system and the development of the company. ®
Interviewed by Elena Ushkova 

[~DETAIL_TEXT] =>

Five Elements of Integration

– Mr Saltanov, what is your opinion about the current level of Russian Railways’ integration into the global transport system?

– The process of integration into the Eurasian transport space is gathering pace. Therefore, a priority of RZD’s international activity is the work targeted at creating the railway infrastructure for a North – South international transport corridor and attracting transit freight to the East – West transcontinental lines of transport. The North – South international transport corridor is an important route necessary for organising transit traffic between the European countries and the states of the Transcaucasia, the Persian Gulf, and Asia. Creation of this route will be completed in the next several years. This will allow creation for the first time in history of a 4,500km long railway link between St Petersburg and the Bandar Abbas port on the Persian Gulf.
In its turn, the East-West international transport corridor provides cargoes from Russia, Europe, and the CIS with direct access to the Far Eastern Russian sea ports and border crossings at the border between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. The backbone of this corridor is the Trans-Siberian Mainline.
RZD is carrying out a number of projects, which will contribute to making railway transportation via Russia more attractive for transit cargoes on the Asia – Europe route. The Programme of Actions for the Development of Container Transportation by Rail Using the Trans-Siberian Mainline till 2015 was developed and approved in 2009. In accordance with this, the “Transsib in 7 Days” transport product is being introduced to the market. The conditions for transportation have been optimised on the Transsib, a stage-by-stage work is underway to lift traffic speed restrictions at stations and railway hauls. The speed of block trains there is 1,200 km per day.
In May 2013, RZD together with TransContainer and Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (a part of Global Ports) launched a regular express container service on the Nakhodka-Vostochnaya – Moskva-Tovarnaya-Paveletskaya route. The pilot train, the length of which was 71 conventional wagons, left Nakhodka-Vostochnaya on May 1, and arrived at the destination point in seven days, moving non-stop, without entering marshalling yards. Express container trains on this route are formed twice a week now, and soon their frequency will increase to three times a week.
The high level of integration of Russian Railways into the global transport system is the result of work done by the holding company in five major areas:
• the balanced development of the technical and technological parameters of sections of the international transport corridors passing through Russia, due to the successive increase in the carrying capacity of the infrastructure and the creation of conditions for servicing prospective traffic;
• the organisation of new routes for freight delivery, including containers, from the Asian and Pacific Region (APR) to Europe, and back (for example, the Chongqing - Duisburg, Duisburg - Moscow, and Shanghai - Duisburg);
• the cooperation with international railway organisations to solve issues related to the legal harmonisation of the transportation process, the unification of technical standards and transport technologies;
• ensuring efficient interaction between the railway administrations of “1520 space”.
• strengthening Russian Railways’ position in the European logistics market and introducing modern logistics technologies of the 3PL/4PL level (for this purpose, as you know, RZD acquired a 75% stake in GEFCO).

Expanding Boundaries

– Does RZD participate in any foreign railway infrastructure development projects?

– The Concept for Managing Infrastructure Projects by RZD Holding Company Abroad was approved last year. A specialised subsidiary of RZD International was launched in accordance with the Concept. It is engaged in searching, studying, managing, and developing the holding company’s infrastructure projects abroad.
A priority is the development of Ulan-Bator Railway JSC and the construction of new railway infrastructure in Mongolia. This project is of great importance for the development of railway transit traffic between Europe and Asia and the creation of a new route for containerised cargoes carried from China to Europe and back. 
The reconstruction of the Khasan – Rason (North Korea) railway and the construction of a cargo terminal in the Rason port are being completed. As a reminder, the project is carried out in accordance with the arrangements reached by the RF President Vladimir Putin and the Head of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-il in 2000. Transportation on the Tumangan – Rason section is to start in Q3 2013. Construction works in the Rason port are to be completed before December 2013.
In 2012, 34 Korean specialists were trained at the Training Centre of the Far Eastern Railway (in Ussuriysk) at RZD’s expense. They will use the Khasan – Rason railway. Also, it is planned to create a single dispatching control centre with the participation of specialists of JV RasonConTrans and Railway Transport Company Tongchang of the Ministry of Railways of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to control the traffic and provide interaction with the whole railway network of North Korea. Also, instructions and the train timetable will be developed. In future, the recommencement of traffic on the whole Trans-Korean Mainline will allow transit via the Trans-Siberian Mainline the lion’s share of the cargo flow from South Korea to Europe, Russia, and the CIS countries and in the reverse direction.
On May 23, 2013, RZD and Railways of Serbia JSC signed a contract for the reconstruction and modernisation of the Serbian railway. Strengthening the bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Serbia through a governmental export loan of $800 million given by the Russian Federation, is a long-term priority for us. Apart from the reconstruction of several railway sections, the contract envisages the supply of 26 diesel trains produced by Metrovagonmash OJSC (Russia).
Simultaneously, we are analysing the opportunity to recommence a project in Libya, stopped in 2011 because of the armed conflict and disorders in the country. Prospective projects we are considering are the construction of railway infrastructure in Jordan, Kuwait, Namibia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and other countries.

– In what phase is the project of extension the broad gauge from Kosice (Slovakia) to Bratislava with an entry to Vienna now?

– I would like to mention that we talk about not the project of extending the broad gauge track to European countries, but about construction of a new transport corridor.
The project was approved at the highest political level of the countries interested in it. Works are underway, the railway administrations and transport departments of Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Austria are cooperating on the basis of signed memoranda and bilateral agreements and arrangements fixed in the protocols of intergovernmental commissions for trade and economic and research and technical cooperation.
Moreover, in 2009, the four parties launched a joint venture with Breitspur Planungsgesellschaft. Its experts made the preliminary feasibility study of the project. The main stages of the project have been defined. It will be carried out in accordance with the legislation of the European Union and the countries, where engineering design and construction works will be done.
In the second half of 2012, an important decision was made to begin forming tender documentation, preparing to announce the tender on making an in-depth feasibility study, which is an important condition for getting permission engineering design works in Slovakia and Austria. When preparing the tender, experts are developing the tender documentation, the order, and the basic stages of the bidding process. It has been adjusted so that the feasibility study will include the analysis of environmental consequences, the final route and the terms of the project land allocation, the development of the business plan, the funding model, and the planned cargo flow. On the agreement of the parties, Austrian Railways are in charge of the procedural preparation of the tender documentation and the bidding process. The new Eurasian transport corridor will contribute to reducing the time of freight delivery from Europe to Asia to 12-14 days and making cargo handling at joint stations for changing to another railway gauge unnecessary.

– What work is carried out in cooperation with rolling stock producers from other countries?

– RZD’s main partners in this sphere are companies such as Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier, Talgo, Tatravagonka, Knorr-Bremse, and other leaders in the transport machine building sector. A priority for the joint works is the localisation of state-of-the-art rolling stock production in Russia.
In cooperation with Siemens, we started mass production and implementation of the two unit 8-axle electric freight locomotive with asynchronous traction motor of the 2ES10 model (“Granite”). This locomotive is manufactured by the Urals Locomotives LLC (a joint venture between the Sinara group of companies and Siemens). 221 “Granite” electric locomotives are to be produced and supplied to RZD until 2016.
Also, RZD, in cooperation with Siemens, continues to carry out the project on the development and supply of “Lastochka” passenger electric trains of the ES1 model (series Desiro RUS) to Russian Railways. The production of these trains will also be localised in Russia by Urals Locomotives. Out of 54 trains scheduled for delivery, 16 will be assembled in this country. At the first stage, the trains are designed to provide passenger transportation during the Olympic Games in Sochi, and later they will be used for commuter passenger transportation in different regions of the country. Currently, it is one of the largest projects of technologies transfer in Russia.
Taking into account the growth in passenger demand for travelling by “Sapsan” trains, we decided to increase their fleet and purchase in addition to the available eight trains as many again. They will be put into operation on the Moscow – St Petersburg line in 2015.
In partnership with the French company Alstom, we completed the development and put into operation the dual-system locomotive model EP20 in December 2012. Also, joint works were continued to provide full maintenance of the “Allegro” trains (service the St Petersburg – Helsinki route) and improving its performance figures; and to organise the production of small-scale mechanisation facilities in partnership with the French company Geismar.

Strengthening Positions


– What does RZD focus on within the framework of international organisations?

– Lately, the cooperation with international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations has reached a new high. In 2007, RZD recommenced its membership of the International Union of Railways (the UIC), and since then the company has been strengthening its position within this organisation gradually. On December 12, 2012, President of RZD Vladimir Yakunin was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the UIC for 2013-2014 with an option for a two-year extension.
RZD developed the Programme of Activity for the UIC in 2013-2014. Special attention was paid to standardisation and legal harmonisation, the expansion of the UIC’s participation in forming global transport policy and cooperation in the traffic safety sphere.
Specialists at RZD take an active role in the activity of almost all working bodies within the UIC. Work is currently under way in all main sectors: passenger and cargo transportation, standardisation, efficient use of resources and energy, traffic safety, protection against acts of unlawful interference, management of railway stations, healthcare on railway transport, scientific research activity, etc.
RZD’s interaction with the Organisation for Co-Operation between Railways (OSJD) is focused on fulfilling a number of objectives by updating the current regulatory and legal base and developing a new one, regulating all aspects of the railways’ functioning. The cooperation with the European Railway Agency (ERA) gathers pace within the framework of the ERA – OSJD line. Moreover, specialists at RZD take part in the main working bodies of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). RZD is the only company authorised by the RF Government to represent Russia’s interests in the UNECE and its subsidiary bodies.
An important sphere of RZD’s and UNECE’s cooperation is the development of the intergovernmental agreement about transport and logistics complexes – off-dock terminals. The participation of the company’s specialists in the development and introduction of the agreement will allow them to study the construction and development of off-dock terminals in the countries of the Asian and Pacific Region, providing coordination between cargo operators, and will contribute to the simplification of transcontinental cargo transportation and the development of the transit potential of the Russian transport system.
A lot of attention is paid to the interaction with railway administrations in the CIS and Baltic States with the 1,520 mm railway gauge. For over 20 years, the main body for this work is the Council for Rail Transport of CIS States. Its priorities are the development of a single system of transport links between countries – members of the Common Economic Space, which is formed on the basis of the Customs Union of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, and the Republic of Kazakhstan; and the launch of Integrated Transport and Logistics Company (ITLC) by the railway administrations of the three countries, which must become the basic building blocks of this system.  
Within the framework of the Council, joint projects for express railway passenger transportation to Latvia (Moscow - Riga), Ukraine (Moscow – Kharkov, Moscow - Donetsk), and Lithuania (the direction to the Kaliningrad region) are developed. The project for express passenger trains on the route Moscow – Minsk – Warsaw – Berlin is also discussed. Projects for information support to international railway transportation are being carried out. They are aimed to provide the online transfer of data from bill of lading for exports and imports transportation.
In cooperation with Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian Railways we continue to implement paperless technology for cargo transportation in private railcars, and for the transportation of empty wagons from Russia to Ukraine, Belarus, and back. A decision about the issue of digital e-signatures is being made. We are preparing to joint data exchange between Russia, Latvia, and Estonia about trains in order to provide preliminary information to customs bodies.

– What effect can Russia’s joining the WTO have for the Russian railway system?   

– Russia’s joining the WTO can strengthen its role in the foreign economic system. At the same time, it will create a number of new important objectives for RZD, including keeping the railway competitive, finalising the unification of tariff policy in the sector of domestic and international transportation, and coordinated development of measures to compensate for losses caused by the tariff unification.
These objectives can be successfully fulfilled through joint work with the Russian state bodies and our international partners, especially with the railways of the EU states. Full-fledged inclusion of the Russian railway sector into the trade and economic framework of the WTO depends directly on the integration efforts and on the removal of regulative and administrative barriers between railways.

– What are RZD’s international objectives in 2013?

– This year, we have several key objectives. First of all, strengthening the cooperation with the railway administrations of the Council for Rail Transport of CIS States, among other things, through the development of the transport and logistics infrastructure and functioning of the Customs Union, the Common Economic Space, and the Eurasian Economic Union.
RZD holding company intends to expand its presence in the international infrastructure markets, which assists the integration of Russian railways into the world transport system. The strategic cooperation with partners from the Asian and Pacific Region will develop in the sector of transportation by rail, logistics, and carrying out joint investment projects. Also, there is a target to strengthen the holding company’s leading role in the international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, using its chairmanship of the UIC.
I’d like to note that since the beginning of the year RZD has signed a number of important international agreements and contracts, which will contribute to the integration of the national railway network into the international transport system and the development of the company. ®
Interviewed by Elena Ushkova 

[DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [~DETAIL_TEXT_TYPE] => html [PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

A strategic priority of RZD’s international activity is the fulfillment of Russia’s transit potential and the integration of the national
railway network into the Eurasian transport and logistics system.
Alexander Saltanov,  RZD’s Vice President for International Activity, talks about projects being carried out in the sector, and about interaction with foreign partners.

[~PREVIEW_TEXT] =>

A strategic priority of RZD’s international activity is the fulfillment of Russia’s transit potential and the integration of the national
railway network into the Eurasian transport and logistics system.
Alexander Saltanov,  RZD’s Vice President for International Activity, talks about projects being carried out in the sector, and about interaction with foreign partners.

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=> 30 [LIST_TYPE] => L [MULTIPLE] => N [XML_ID] => [FILE_TYPE] => pdf [MULTIPLE_CNT] => 5 [LINK_IBLOCK_ID] => 0 [WITH_DESCRIPTION] => N [SEARCHABLE] => N [FILTRABLE] => N [IS_REQUIRED] => N [VERSION] => 2 [USER_TYPE] => [USER_TYPE_SETTINGS] => [HINT] => [~NAME] => Прикрепленный PDF [~DEFAULT_VALUE] => [VALUE_ENUM] => [VALUE_XML_ID] => [VALUE_SORT] => [VALUE] => [PROPERTY_VALUE_ID] => 96574:324 [DESCRIPTION] => [~DESCRIPTION] => [~VALUE] => ) ) [DISPLAY_PROPERTIES] => Array ( ) [IPROPERTY_VALUES] => Array ( [SECTION_META_TITLE] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships [SECTION_META_KEYWORDS] => searching for mutually beneficial partnerships [SECTION_META_DESCRIPTION] => <p>A strategic priority of RZD’s international activity is the fulfillment of Russia’s transit potential and the integration of the national <br /> railway network into the Eurasian transport and logistics system. <br /> Alexander Saltanov,  RZD’s Vice President for International Activity, talks about projects being carried out in the sector, and about interaction with foreign partners.</p> [ELEMENT_META_TITLE] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships [ELEMENT_META_KEYWORDS] => searching for mutually beneficial partnerships [ELEMENT_META_DESCRIPTION] => <p>A strategic priority of RZD’s international activity is the fulfillment of Russia’s transit potential and the integration of the national <br /> railway network into the Eurasian transport and logistics system. <br /> Alexander Saltanov,  RZD’s Vice President for International Activity, talks about projects being carried out in the sector, and about interaction with foreign partners.</p> [SECTION_PICTURE_FILE_ALT] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships [SECTION_PICTURE_FILE_TITLE] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships [SECTION_DETAIL_PICTURE_FILE_ALT] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships [SECTION_DETAIL_PICTURE_FILE_TITLE] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships [ELEMENT_PREVIEW_PICTURE_FILE_ALT] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships [ELEMENT_PREVIEW_PICTURE_FILE_TITLE] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships [ELEMENT_DETAIL_PICTURE_FILE_ALT] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships [ELEMENT_DETAIL_PICTURE_FILE_TITLE] => Searching for Mutually Beneficial Partnerships ) )



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