Magazines — RZD-Partner International — 2 (6) June - August 2006
2 (6) June - August 2006
USING ONE GAUGE: Many experts believe that in the near future Russia can become Finland's largest trade partner. Naturally,the transport sector, including railway, occupies one of the key positions in the process.RUSSIAN TIMBER: RAW MATERIAL OR PRODUCT?: Russian timber transportation is on the rise nowadays. However, the tendency may turn out to be a temporary one, since timber producers face the growth of prices for energy carriers and raw timber, as well as tariff increase on transportation. Consequently, in the near future timber transportation volume can significantly reduce in Russia.
LOST ON THEIR OWN FIELD: The Board of OAO RZD set a target to increase their loading volume by 2.8% in 2006. However, in the first quarter of 2006, transportation volume increased by 1.4% only; thus, in the second quarter the task was corrected.
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
Cooperation with neighbouring countries has been extremely important for almost all branches of Russian economy and the transport sector is of no exception in this respect. In this issue The RZD-Partner International starts a series of special projects in the Theme section devoted to aspects of this partnership. The series starts with an overview of Russian-Finnish cooperation (see pp. 10-19). Many experts believe that in the near future Russia can become the largest trade partner of Finland. Naturally, the transport sector, including railway communication, occupies one of the key positions in the process. According to the data of Finnish specialists, nowadays 17 million tons of different cargoes is transported by railway between Finland and Russia. In 2005, over 250 thousand people were transported by railway. Such a stable passenger route and impressive figures of freight flow prove that the infrastructure should be developed, modern rolling stock should be purchased, and new IT technologies should be implemented. That is why much attention is paid to the modernization of Russian-Finnish railway communication. In this issue you will find articles about joint projects pursued by the Russian and Finnish railways (see pp. 10-19), handling of Russian cargoes in the ports of Finland, and cooperation in IT sphere. You will also read an interview with Director General of VR Ltd. In the forthcoming issues of The RZD-Partner International, overviews of Russia's cooperation with China and Germany will be published.