They are asking to raise tariffs more than originally planned

Yesterday, at a meeting of representatives of the transport committee with deputies of the city parliament, it turned out that Smolny officials radically disagree on the mechanism for increasing public transport fares. Thus, the draft budget of St. Petersburg for 2016 includes an increase in the cost of one metro token to 42 rubles, a ticket for ground transport - up to 40 rubles, and travel tickets - by 15-25%. It was previously stated that prices could rise to 40 and 35 rubles, respectively. At the same time, the day before, as Kommersant learned, the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko, in response to a deputy’s request, said that “the bulk of the costs” for passenger transportation will be indexed within the limits of inflation - by 8.8%.

Officials offer a choice between a larger than initially expected increase in fares and transport safety
Photo: Alexander Koryakov, Kommersant

At the time the draft city budget for 2016 was submitted to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, a dispute continues in Smolny about how much to increase the cost of public transport. So, a few months after the message that one trip on the metro in St. Petersburg could rise in price to 40 rubles, a ticket for a bus, tram and trolleybus - up to 35 rubles, officials of the Smolny transport block notified deputies of the Legislative Assembly about the need to increase metro fares up to 42 rubles, in ground transport - up to 40 rubles.

“They explained to us that such an increase is necessary in order not to allocate additional subsidies from the budget for the transport complex in the amount of about 3.6 billion rubles,” MP Maxim Reznik, who was present at the meeting, told Kommersant. Currently, the draft budget includes a subsidy of 10.49 billion rubles for the metro, 4.92 billion rubles for electric transport, and 6.66 billion rubles for buses. Otherwise, as officials explained to parliamentarians, the city will have to cut costs on the reconstruction and purchase of rolling stock, which will ultimately affect its safety.

Explanations about the need to update the rolling stock do not stand up to criticism: this is a separate budget line, says deputy Boris Vishnevsky. According to him, in the draft budget for 2016, 2.25 billion rubles are planned for the purchase of new metro cars, another 1.4 billion rubles for social buses, 393 million rubles for trams and 46 million for trolleybuses. “Where did the new figures come from? This corresponds to a 43% increase in tariffs in ground transport and 35% in the metro. Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee Sergei Makeev told me that the draft budget includes an increase in the “weighted average tariff” by 15.6%. Which is radically different. with the figures announced by transport workers,” says Mr. Vishnevsky.

At the same time, the day before, the governor of St. Petersburg, Georgy Poltavchenko, told deputies Vishnevsky and Kobrinsky in response to their request that “the main part of the costs” for transporting passengers in 2016 “is planned to be increased by the inflation rate,” that is, by 8.8% (the governor’s answer is in at the disposal of Kommersant).

It is worth noting that last week there was a meeting between officials of the Transport Committee and the specialized commission on the transport complex of the Legislative Assembly, where the fare was also indicated at 40 rubles for the metro and 35 rubles for buses, trams and trolleybuses. “That is, the transport committee’s numbers changed literally over the past week,” says one of the commission members.

As Alexey Pyatakov, head of the department of budget planning, economic analysis and financing of the transport complex of the Transport Committee, explained to Kommersant, if the deputies and the governor do not make a decision to increase tariffs to 40 rubles on ground transport and 42 rubles in the metro, then city carriers will be SUE Petersburg Metro, State Unitary Enterprise Passazhiravtotrans and State Unitary Enterprise Gorelektrotrans will begin to operate at a loss. “That is, enterprises will end their financial year with losses, which will subsequently require the allocation of additional subsidies from the budget. Or we will resort to borrowed funds, which will also have to be covered. There is also the option of reducing the volume of transport work, which we would really not want due to social obligations of the city,” said Mr. Pyatakov.

At the end of September, deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly Boris Vishnevsky and Alexander Kobrinsky asked Governor Georgy Poltavchenko to conduct an audit of three city transport SUEs for operational efficiency. Yesterday, the deputies received a response from the mayor, which states that the State Unitary Enterprise "Petersburg Metro", the State Unitary Enterprise "Pasazhiravtotrans" and the State Unitary Enterprise "Gorelektrotrans" already undergo an annual audit by independent auditors, and financial statements are published on the Internet, which is why additional checks will be redundant. As for the increase in fares in terms of inflation, the governor’s response states: “I inform you that the bulk of the costs associated with the transportation of passengers in 2016 are planned to be increased by the inflation rate included in the draft law of St. Petersburg on the budget for 2016 ( by 8.8%)". Part of the costs is calculated separately: for depreciation of fixed assets, taxes, additional transport work. At the same time, the increase in the costs of enterprises for transporting passengers will be compensated by their own income in the form of fares, subsidies from the budget and profits of state unitary enterprises from other activities."

The governor also emphasized that a high level of discounts will be maintained for long-term tickets. According to Mr. Pyatakov, the tariff here may increase by 15-25% depending on the type of card.

Tatiana Dyatel

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