Econ Ministry not expecting RZD investment program to fall in physical terms in 2016
MOSCOW. Sept 29 (Interfax) - The Economic Development Ministry is expecting, with the indexation of tariffs by 10% in 2016, that Russian Railways (RZD) will manage to meet the physical volumes of the investment program, Deputy Economic Development Minister Nikolai Podguzov told journalists.
"We are hoping that all physical volumes of the RZD investment program, necessary for providing railway infrastructure, will be implemented," he said, answering a question about whether it was planned to adjust the investment program of RZD.
"To say there must be obligatory cuts to something - this might happen only in the context of optimization procedures when applying more effective approaches at one or another facility. But it is entirely possible that we won't touch physical volumes," he said.
"We are seeing the potential for optimization and efficiency increases at RZD, for example, in work to win back freight shipments from the trucking industry," he said, adding that a highway use fee is being introduced for trucks weighing over 12 tonnes.
"Clearly, RZD has the opportunity to regain some of the freight traffic it lost to trucking when highway usage was free. RZD needs to offer some kind of services on shipments, in order to win them back. This is an example of one option for expanding RZD's revenue base. Clearly, there are also prospects for working with costs, but the company must draw up and present those proposals itself," he said.