OREANDA-NEWS. June 09, 2009. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, attended a round table on the development of logistics infrastructure in Russia at the XIII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Yakunin said that at present, a serious problem on the Russian market for transportation and logistics services was the limited number of major logistics centres which could provide the full range of services for the redistribution of goods and satisfy current demand for commensurate technical specifications and service levels. As such, the President announced that the Company intended to expand significantly the range of its rail-based logistics services.

Yakunin recalled that in accordance with the approved "Strategy for The Development of Rail Transportation in the Russian Federation until 2030," the highest priority was to create a network of 35 to 40 modern terminal and logistics centres on the railways in the country’s major transportation hubs and industrial centres which would then be integrated into the international transport system.

To achieve this goal, the Company is examining solutions to problems such as:

- developing an effective and balanced terminal and storage network by creating freight processing terminals and multi-purpose multimodal terminal complexes which provide a wide range of warehousing, customs and related services,

- introducing modern logistics management technologies into the transportation process,

- improving the quality of transportation and logistics services by integrating individual transportation components into a single logistics chain,

- providing clients with comprehensive services for transporting goods "door to door" from a "one-stop-shop".

Vladimir Yakunin said that the plans outlined above could not be implemented without reliable partners in Russia and abroad and without the participation of the government at different levels. The Company was therefore looking at the possibility of cooperation with Russian and foreign partners to build terminal and logistics centres in Moscow, Samara, Leningrad and Sverdlovsk Regions and other regions of Russia.

In the coming months, the "Russian Railways’ Development Strategy to 2015" will be completed, which includes the final transition to management with a concentration on priority market areas with the aim of increasing the Company’s market value.

Yakunin also announced that in May 2009, Russian Railways had created a Centre for the Development of Terminals. In addition, it was also planned to actively position the Company in the segments terminal and warehouse operation and contract logistics, which would allow Russian Railways to offer its customers a new level of quality in transportation and logistics services.