Paths of separation

Summer residents of St. Petersburg and residents of the Leningrad region have nothing to ride

If by the beginning of the summer season the railway workers, represented by OJSC North-Western Suburban Passenger Company (SZPPK) - a subsidiary of OJSC Russian Railways, responsible for the movement of electric trains, and the government of the Leningrad region do not comply with the requirements of the local administration of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (UFAS) to restore With all the trains canceled last year, social tension in the region will rise sharply. Gleb Konnov, head of the department of natural monopolies and advertising of the Federal Antimonopoly Service for the Leningrad Region, told Vremya Novostey.

After the next stage of the railway transport reform, coupled with Federal Law No. 184-FZ “On the general principles of the organization of legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation,” the organization of suburban rail transportation fell on the constituent entities of the federation. Suburban rail transportation in Russia, like almost everywhere else in the world, does not pay for itself. The difference between the real cost and the current tariffs is called lost income, which must be compensated somehow.

But the wording of Article 26.3 (Principles of financial support for the exercise of powers by public authorities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation) of the above-mentioned law is ambiguous. As a result, the general director of SZPPK, Konstantin Vorontsov, referring to this document, demands that the Leningrad region cover all lost losses in an amount approaching a billion rubles.

By the way, Smolny, to which the railway workers at one time also applied for compensation (only in a smaller amount, since formally St. Petersburg has only about 20 km of tracks), even at the stage of formation of SZPPK as a separate enterprise, became a shareholder of the company (26% of shares) . And he began to invest the required amounts from the budget into it. The government of the Leningrad region did not agree to participate in the company, and then the management of SZPPK refused all requests from officials to include them among the shareholders, explaining that for this it was necessary to carry out an additional issue of shares and that no one would do this.

As a result, the chairman of the regional transport committee, Leonid Terebnev, referring to federal law 184-FZ, argues that the organization of transportation discussed in the above-mentioned article does not imply financing of a private company: “A federal subject does not have the right to provide budgetary support to business entities. In addition, my experts doubt the objectivity of railway workers’ calculations of lost income. The constant increase in this amount and tariffs is the result of ineffective and unprofessional management.”

Since 2010, NWPC switched from zonal (ten-kilometer) payments to a per-kilometer tariff of 1.5 rubles. per kilometer with a landing fee of 30 rubles. In Moscow, this initiative was canceled, but in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region the experiment continues. At the same time, railway workers are again talking about losses. They sent a request to the government of the Leningrad region with a request to increase the per-kilometer tariff to 2.5 rubles. In turn, Leonid Terebnev believes that even the initial amount of the per-kilometer tariff is overstated and that, with proper management, the enterprise breaks even at a tariff of a ruble per kilometer.

Vorontsov and Terebnev have been arguing with each other for a long time. And the passengers suffer. Thus, solving the problem of its unprofitability, on April 1 last year, SZPPK carried out an “optimization” of the suburban railway service. Suburban electric trains and diesel trains were canceled on 45 routes on the Vyborg, Volkhovstroevsky, Podporozhsky, Slantsevsky, Sosnovoborsky, Tosnensky, and Tikhvinsky directions. People survived last year's summer season, especially since the North-West Transport Company promised to duplicate the canceled railway routes with bus routes. But she didn’t keep her promises. And already last summer, hundreds of complaints were sent to the North-Western Transport Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Antimonopoly Service for the Leningrad Region.

In June, the transport prosecutor's office and the Federal Antimonopoly Service conducted an "optimization" check. And at the beginning of this year, the OFAS issued a mandatory order to the carrier to restore the operation of reduced trains along the routes of the Oktyabrskaya Railway “to the extent that ensures that the demand of residents is met.”

As Gleb Konnov told Vremya Novostey, this “volume” should be provided to the carrier by the Leningrad Region Transport Committee. But the point is that, having issued certain requirements, the government will have to enter into an agreement to compensate for lost income, if not all, then the routes being restored. But regional officials categorically do not want this.

In pursuance of a request from the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the railway company sent a contract form to the government of the Leningrad region a month ago. Its contents are unknown. And there is no answer yet. On the other hand, the railway workers exercised their right to protest the decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in the Arbitration Court for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. The first arbitration meeting will take place on April 14.

Gleb Konnov is confident in the victory of his department. This victory entails the imposition of an administrative fine on the company from 0.01 to 0.15% of revenue. Which, depending on aggravating circumstances, can cost at least 100 million rubles.

But a fine will not restore the movement of electric trains. The FAS is aware of the current situation. And if it can somehow fight the monopolist, then it can punish officials only if they violate the law “On Competition”. This supervisory institution has no other powers in relation to government authorities.

Also, assessing the situation, Gleb Konnov said that in this case it would be logical to carry out an issue: “Regional authorities, if we are talking about such a monopolist, should, it seems to me, be a participant in a joint-stock company. But we cannot force a private company to dispose of assets In general, soberly assessing our powers and the legal field in which we operate, I don’t even dare to name a time frame for when our demands can be met, but I am sure that if the parties to the conflict do not sort things out among themselves, popular unrest in the Leningrad region will not be avoided.” .

As a result of the conflict between the monopolist and officials, thousands of people are experiencing serious transport problems. They look for an alternative (and this is a limited number of minibuses, where, unlike railway transport, there are no benefits) or do not go anywhere at all. And railway workers take advantage of this, declaring that electric trains are not in demand.

Previously, when electric trains ran normally from St. Petersburg to Kingisepp, people could not fit on them, the vestibules were packed, people climbed into the locomotive. And now there is only one train on this route, and it doesn’t run on weekends. Of course it's half empty.

Gleb Konnov's forecast about possible unrest among potential passengers looks quite realistic. After all, complaints to the Federal Antimonopoly Service have been going on and on all autumn, winter and spring, and by summer the number of passengers increases tenfold.

According to experts, the root of the problem must be sought in the reform of Russian Railways, which has divided its structural divisions into subsidiaries. Previously, in a single company, suburban passenger transportation was at least partially offset by freight transportation. Until last year, JSC Russian Railways maintained this principle of cross-financing, but now each subsidiary must earn money on its own.

The OFAS studied the principle of pricing for suburban passenger transportation. Of the cost of a ticket, SZPPK gets only 20%, the remaining 80% goes to infrastructure - rolling stock, maintenance of depots, which the company rents from JSC Russian Railways. And this is already a problem for the federal authorities. The regions will not be able to deal with it.

This requires amendments to federal legislation. But the center is clearly in no hurry. For example, the Federal Tariff Service of the Russian Federation should have long ago developed a methodology for co-financing suburban passenger companies created by JSC Russian Railways in all regions. However, she still hasn't done this.

Mikhail TELEKHOV, St. Petersburg