Economic locomotive

The state will enter the capital of Russian Railways

To support one of the main natural monopolies - RAO Russian Railways, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin went to St. Petersburg and paid a total of almost 300 billion rubles from the state pocket.

The prime minister arrived in St. Petersburg by rail - to the Moscow station. And he said his weighty word to the domestic railways, and to the entire transport of Russia, not from an armored train, but from the super-high-speed train “Sapsan” (named after the fastest bird in the world), purchased for 43 million euros from the Siemens Transport System company. Although, to be fair, let’s say that this bullet train will remain on a siding for now and will only start operating in December next year, when the railway track between the two capitals will be adjusted to accommodate it. And one more thing: for now, the Sapsan will move between the two capitals slower than it can - in 3 hours 45 minutes instead of two and a half. And all for the same reason that we lack the necessary roads.

On the eve of the New Year, Mr. Putin gathered his colleagues in St. Petersburg to tell them “how we will move forward.” At Friday's meeting on the problems of transport and Russian Railways, he was consistent - he distributed budget support with an eye to the crisis. So, according to his calculations, freight transportation, on which the profit of Russian Railways greatly depends, has already decreased by 6-9%. Plus, a government decision was made, as the prime minister put it, “to slow down the growth of tariffs for freight transportation in the interests of the entire economy.” Mr. Putin preliminarily estimated the lost revenues only for reducing tariff growth and corresponding compensation from the treasury at 50 billion rubles, which he promised to issue. The prime minister tried to cover other unplanned losses of Russian Railways from other sources. In particular, through the placement of Russian Railways bonds in the amount of 150 billion rubles. According to the head of the company, Vladimir Yakunin, such a placement could take place as early as the second quarter of 2009.

But the main thing that the prime minister admitted is that the state will enter the capital of Russian Railways. Mr. Putin, speaking about direct state injections into the monopoly, specifically emphasized: “I want to say this very carefully.” And he didn’t mention the entry amount. And according to experts, it is significant and amounts to at least 100 billion rubles. It was reluctantly confirmed by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, who oversees transport. First, he outlined to journalists some tens of billions of rubles (they say, I can’t say for sure), with which the government’s Santa Claus will come to the Russian Railways Christmas tree. And then he suddenly decided to back up his thought with a guess: “But the savings of Russian Railways can amount to the same (!) 100 billion rubles...” “That is, not everything is done at public expense,” he added, sincerely smiling.

Summing up the meeting, Mr. Ivanov said that the prime minister managed to achieve from domestic railcar manufacturers what he really wanted in the face of the crisis - a reduction in prices for their products. Vice assured that in the new year prices will be reduced by 20%. What in return? The government promised protective customs and tariff measures to cargo carriers. Mr. Ivanov refused to say which ones. And in response to a direct question from an Interfax correspondent: “Will you increase import duties?” - upset: “Maybe it’s not necessary. But I consider the use of customs tariff regulation measures justified.”

Having been delayed at a briefing with journalists, Mr. Ivanov did not have time to ride around St. Petersburg with Vladimir Putin and Governor Valentina Matvienko and see his unprecedented Christmas outfit. The prime minister and the governor stopped by a simple St. Petersburg fair with ordinary citizens who were not selected by the special services. There, Mr. Putin gave himself free rein: he and the boy Alyosha printed an anti-crisis coin according to the old model, ate a sausage made from only meat, fried by a “small” entrepreneur, which he washed down with mulled wine instead of beer. And he received, from another boy, a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums.

Vera KUZNETSOVA, St. Petersburg