RZD's Yakunin proposes using infrastructure bonds for projects with up to 10yr period of return
ASHGABAT. Oct 17 (Interfax) - Funds from infrastructure bonds, which OJSC Russian Railways (RZD) might issue, could be used for investment projects with a period of return of up to 10 years, RZD president Vladimir Yakunin said at a meeting of the CIS State Council on Railway Transport in Ashgabat.
"In addition, the option of issuing state infrastructure bonds for planned financing is under consideration," he said.
At the same time, he said that such projects for the state have long periods of return owing to the multiplier effect for the whole economy. "This makes the issue of state infrastructure bonds an economically justified instrument for financing the development of railway infrastructure," he said.
Using these and other financial instruments will allow for the construction of over 20,700 kilometers in new railway lines in Russia by 2030.
Yakunin also said that the time has come for forming reserves of transport capacity on heavy-transport lines and border crossings.
"For this, it would be possible to develop, by tapping the railway administrations in neighboring states, joint forecast models for freight throughput and regional plans for development of infrastructure for railway border crossings and their approaches, with consideration of international transport corridors," he said.
He added that the time for processing of trains by customs agents on several freight routes still exceed set norms. As a result, downtime for railcars while waiting for customs inspection at border crossings can reach up to five to seven days. "Owing, in part, to the inability to supply cargo on time, contract obligations are breached and enterprises experience downtime, which has a negative impact on production efficiency," Yakunin said.
Yakunin said that the railway administrations need to reduce the time for letting through commodities and the number of documents for these purposes. They should also move to selective customs control using analysis systems and risk management, he said.
