Magazines — RZD-Partner International — 1 (9) March-May 2007
1 (9) March-May 2007
WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK: 2006 was dramatic for Russia’s railways as the industry goes through a period of fundamental transformation. The main actor in the reform and at the same time the company most affected by the changes is OAO RZD (Russian Railways). Vladimir Yakunin, president of Russian Railways, comments on OAO RZD’s achievements in 2006 and the prospects for the reform.COAL SECTOR: NEW URGE: In 2006 loading of coal increased by 3.3% year-on-year, which exceeds the rates of the average loading on OAO RZD’s network and the company’s plan. During the first ten days of January, the loading volume of the cargo increased by 13.6% year-on-year, which proves that the interest to the Russian solid fuel is high on both the domestic and foreign markets, in spite of the warm winter.
REFCONTAINER PATIENCE: Considering the world tendency for cargo containerization, more and more attention is paid to the use of refrigerator containers to transport perishable goods. However, problems of refcontainers used for domestic transportation in Russia exceed the obvious prospects of this technology.
Ambitions Justified by Target
TRANSPORTATION / Container transportation
Nowadays the international market of container transportation is actually closed for most Russian carriers. Experts have emphasized that the only chance for Russia to resist western leaders’ expansion is to launch a big competitive company. At the moment OAO RZD subsidiary TransContainer aspires to take this niche. Pavel Chichagov, Deputy CEO on strategic development, comments on the company’s plans to reach the world market of container transportation.