| The New Year in Moscow will begin with an increase in transport prices With the choice of gifts for Muscovites for the New Year, the capital's authorities decided not to be original. According to the old tradition, January will greet citizens using public transport services with a slight but widespread increase in prices. The Regional Energy Commission approved plans to increase fares for both metro and surface transport from January 1, 2005. In fact, this will be the second increase in transport prices in ten months, but formally the legislative ban on revising tariffs more than once a year will not be violated - after all, the April rounding of prices to 10 rubles dates back to 2004, and the January increase dates back to 2005.
As the REC reported last Friday, only metro travel will rise in price by almost 30%: you will have to pay 13 rubles for a one-time trip. instead of ten. Ticket prices for trams, buses and trolleybuses will increase by only a ruble. True, travel tickets will also rise in price by the same 10%, including for schoolchildren and students. All this, the authorities say, will not only reduce the unprofitability of urban transport, but also direct the resulting additional funds to renew the ground transport fleet and modernize the metro rolling stock, as well as to improve travel safety.
It is safety costs that may lead to price increases in the new year for other modes of transport. As the head of the Ministry of Transport, Igor Levitin, said on Friday, his department plans to submit the law “On Transport Security” for consideration to the Russian government in the first quarter of 2005. It is still unknown whether this document will include a proposal to establish, in particular, a special anti-terrorist fee in the amount of 10-15 conventional units for air passengers. However, it is obvious that modernizing security systems at airports and train stations will require significant costs, which the state will most likely be willing to share with both carrier companies and passengers.
The Ministry of Transport's plans for 2005 are not limited only to passenger safety. Igor Levitin confirmed his department’s intention to collect money for the use of Russian roads from the owners of motor transport companies whose fleet includes vehicles with a carrying capacity of more than seven tons. According to him, “a proposal has already been submitted to the State Duma to adopt appropriate amendments to the legislation.” This innovation will affect both foreign and Russian trucking companies. “Even Belarus charges money for entry and travel through its own territory,” the minister noted, emphasizing that tolling trucks is “a completely European practice.”
But, having reported this unpleasant news for cargo carriers, Mr. Levitin immediately tried to prove that the state does not at all set itself the goal of imposing additional taxes on transport companies. As examples of the authorities' concern for the development of the industry, the minister cited plans to revise the tax policy for shipping companies. According to him, the Ministry of Transport “through long convincing conversations” managed to break the resistance of the Ministry of Finance on the bill “On the Russian International Register of Ships.” In the near future, this document will be submitted to the government, and after its adoption, according to Mr. Levitin, the majority of Russian ships that go to sea today under the flags of offshore states providing tax preferences will be able to fly the tricolor without harming the budget of their owners.
The head of the Ministry of Transport also said that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development have finally approved the bill “On Concession Agreements,” which will allow private investors to invest money in the development of Russian transport infrastructure. “I spoke with the head of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, German Gref, and he promised me that in the worst case, this law will be adopted in the first quarter of next year,” said Igor Levitin. Anna ShPAK |
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