VTB opens a RUB 80bn credit line for RZD
VTB Bank has granted a credit line of RUB 80 billion to state-owned Russian Railways (RZD), the bank said.
"I am confident that our mutually beneficial cooperation with Russian Railways will facilitate the expansion and renewal of railways infrastructure, strategically important for the development of Russian transport industry as a whole," said Senior Vice President of VTB Bank Andrey Burlin.
JSC Russian Railways established by the Russian Government in September 2003 is now the state-owned rail monopoly with workforce of 950,000 people making it one of the largest companies in the world. JSC Russian Railways operates over 86,000 km (53,000 miles) of common carrier routes and several hundred kilometers of industrial routes, the second largest network in the world. The Railways provide 39% of total freight turnover (including pipelines) and over 41% of the country’s passenger traffic. In January-September 2011 the company’s total traffic amounted to 1.6 trillion t/km, the passenger traffic - 108.7 billion p/km.
OJSC VTB is a member of the international financial group VTB. The Group has 957 offices located in Russia, CIS and Europe. As of September 30, 2010 the Group’s assets amounted to RUB 3 trillion 753 billion. The VTB’s major stockholder is the Russian Government, which holds a 75.5 percent stake through the Federal Agency for State Property Management.