OREANDA-NEWS. November 18, 2009. Vadim Morozov, First Vice-President of Russian Railways, took part in an international conference on "The Containerisation of Russia and The Development of Logistics Terminals and Cargo Handling", reported the press-centre of RZD.

Analysing the development of the Company’s container transport and logistics terminals in international transit, Morozov noted that cargo transportation by container on Russia’s railways over the past 5 years, from 2003 to 2008, had increased steadily from 5% to 13% annually. This growth rate was higher than those in Western Europe and the United States.

"In the first 10 months of this year, amid the global financial crisis, total container traffic on the rail network fell by 23% compared to the same period last year, with the biggest fall in imports, which declined by 47%," said Morozov.

According to expert estimates, Russia’s container market should experience significant development after the global economic crisis, primarily by raising the level of containerisation. In 2008, the share of container traffic in the total volume of transported goods on the Russian rail network was under 2%, but containerisation is expected to exceed 5% by 2012.

In view of projected demographic trends, Russian Railways is vigorously implementing work to establish a more effective use of the Russian rail network’s transit potential by developing international transport corridors along the main East - West and North – South axes.

"The Company’s work is designed to ensure the growth of transit shipments through Russia by a factor of 2.8 by 2030, as provided for in the Rail Transport Development Strategy," said Vadim Morozov.

One of the strategic areas for diversifying the Company’s activities is the development of the logistics business.

"We expect to increase the competitiveness of Russian Railways by entering the logistics market," said Morozov. "This is virtually a declaration of our intent to eventually become one of the leading international transport and logistics companies."

In accordance with the Rail Transport Development Strategy 2030, Russian Railways, together with interested private investors, plans to establish a developed network of terminal and logistics centres (TLC) on Russia’s railways and accordingly set up a Centre for the Development of Terminals in May 2009. Currently under development is a major project for the construction of the logistics centre Bely Rast in the Moscow region, which is proceeding in close cooperation with foreign partners.

The necessary decisions have been taken to set up a terminal and warehouse operator (the Central Directorate for Management of the Terminal and Warehouse Complex) within Russian Railways. Its task will be to provide specialised services, including those with high added value (grouping smaller consignments, sorting, responsible storage, customs clearance, etc.) based on the Company’s existing terminal and warehouse complex.