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.
Postponed competition
TRANSPORTATION / Logistics
Russian national logistics providers and international world-branded operators share the same booming market quietly, peacefully, without great competition. International companies need domestic ones as partners because of necessity to allow for specifics of the country’s legislation and mentality. But as soon as Russia maintains worldwide standards, foreign operators will prefer to merge locals.