Federal Cargo Co. thinks realistic forecast 2.4% drop in railway hauling in 2013
MOSCOW. Aug 16 (Interfax) - OJSC Federal Cargo Company (FGK), the former OJSC Freight Two, considers realistic the OJSC Russian Railways (RZD) forecast of a 2.4% drop in railway shipping in Russia this year.
"As concerns the short-term forecast for the market for railway carriage, RZD's suggested decrease in hauling this year of 2.4% seems perfectly likely to us," FGK'S first deputy director, Igor Asaturov, said in an interview posted on the operator's official website.
Last September, as it presented its government-approved draft financial plan, RZD allowed as how there could be a 0.5% drop in shipping this year. But in the end, it put the figure at 0.7% early this year. In Q4 2012, shipping fell off noticeably, and in April RZD President Vladimir Yakunin said that in 2013 it could be even lower than last year. In May, the railway monopoly officially revised its forecast to "minus 2.4%."
"We want to cut the slippage to 1.5% in August," Yakunin said last month. "It's difficult to predict what will be at year-end. We would like to pull in the slack, so as to be - if not even with last year - then at least having a lag that is less than now," he said. RZD anticipates that railway freight load this month will be 1.5% less than in August of last year, Yakunin said.