Vice President of Russian Railways sums up Holding's international activities in 2015
Alexander Saltanov, Vice President of Russian Railways, has summed up the activities of the Holding's international unit in 2015 at a Company Board meeting, press center of Russian Railways says.
According to Saltanov, in spite of the difficulties associated with the macroeconomic situation, the Holding managed to make its contribution to the sustainable development of global railway transport in 2015. The Vice-President said that this year, cooperation with foreign partners had reached a new level in the field of infrastructure construction and logistics, while through its work, the Russian Railways Holding had strengthened its position within international organisations.
The Holding's revenues from international engineering and transport construction increased nearly threefold times compared to 2014 and exceeded 5.1 billion roubles.
Among the Holding's key projects, Alexander Saltanov mentioned the project to modernise and construct Serbia's railway infrastructure. The quality of work and its completion on schedule were highly appreciated by the Serbian side, which in turn led to new proposals. In particular, cooperation was discussed with regard to the development of the general shape of Serbia's railways, the creation of a control centre for the remote management of railway traffic in Belgrade, the further development of the Serbian School of Vehicle Design and Construction and the possible involvement of RZD International, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, in the maintenance of Serbia's existing railway infrastructure.
This year also saw RZD International and Railways of the Islamic Republic of Iran enter into a contractual agreement for a project to electrify the Garmsar - Ince Burun railway line.
In addition, active work is underway in Indonesia and the possibilities for participating in the development of the railway sector in Brazil, Vietnam, India and other countries are under consideration.
The Company has also reached a new level in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific region, above all with China. "The Memorandum of Intent signed in September 2015 with the Yingkou Port group of companies lends additional impetus to cooperation on logistics in both China and in Russia. Four fully complete container trains have already been dispatched to Russia from the port of Yingkou," said Alexander Saltanov.
As part of the Khasan (Russia) - Rajin (North Korea) infrastructure project created by Russian specialists, about 1.4 million tons of freight were shipped via North Korea.
In 2015, the platforms of international organisations continued to harmonise transport law and improve the regulatory framework for the development of rail transport with the active participation of Russian Railways.
In early December 2015, the powers of the President of Russian Railways in his capacity as the Chairman of the International Union of Railways (UIC) were extended, which indicates an strengthening of the Holding's position in global issues with regard to the development of railway transport.
Speaking about the Company's plans for 2016, Alexander Saltanov noted the need for further work to create the conditions to attract the maximum amount of transit freight to the Russian section of the International Transport Corridors (ITCs). "To this end, we will develop bilateral contacts with our partners, including in the framework of international associations and organisations. The Holding will also undertake targeted steps to achieve this goal within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt," said Saltanov.
