Checking communication paths

The results of the audit by the Accounts Chamber were disappointing for the Ministry of Railways. According to auditor Mikhail Beskhmelnitsyn, an audit of the Ministry of Railways showed that the ministry simultaneously worked in three directions: as an executive body, acted as a monopolist in the Russian market, and was also an economic entity whose goal was to obtain maximum profit. The auditor believes that as a result, the ministry has a conflict situation with the laws and regulations that are in force in the country.

Thus, according to Mr. Beshmelnitsyn, the joint venture established that extra-budgetary funds were created in the Ministry of Railways in violation of the law. The creation of funds, the auditor said, should have been decided not at the ministry level, but by a special government resolution. Mr. Beshmelnitsyn also reported that, having analyzed the use of funds for their intended purpose, the auditors revealed: the West Siberian Railway provided certain tariff benefits in violation of the general agreements concluded between the Ministry of Railways and the Kemerovo region.

In addition, auditors of the Accounts Chamber found that the tenders held by the Ministry of Railways for the purchase of rolling stock and equipment for the overhaul of tracks and cars were conducted in violation of the laws. Orders, according to the auditor, were placed for enterprises related to the industry itself. The auditors also focused on issues related to the organization of freight transportation, in particular, the transportation of coal, the delivery of goods to the Far North, and the reconstruction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg railway was also checked. As Mikhail Beskhmelnitsyn emphasized, the joint venture intends to consider in the near future the issue of justification for increasing tariffs for freight transportation and prices for passenger tickets.

"News Time"