OREANDA-NEWS. October 31, 2014. Vladimir Yakunin, the President of Russian Railways, has taken part in the second International Conference of Tariff Regulatory Authorities, "Stimulating Regulation and Attracting Investment to Railway Infrastructure," which took place in Moscow.

"Current trends in the Russian economy remind us about the crisis of 2008-2009. Russia's GDP growth in January-August 2014 slowed to 0.7% year-on-year compared to 1.3% in 2013. Investment in fixed assets is falling, capital outflows are increasing and industrial production is stagnating. It's obvious that to maintain a sustainable position, Russia has to find new drivers capable of lifting the country to higher rates of economic growth and increase the level of import substitution. The development of railway infrastructure is capable of becoming such a driver and is a necessary element in stimulating the real economy," said Vladimir Yakunin, who went on to note that the cost-effectiveness of this approach has been confirmed by the IMF.

According to Yakunin, implementing a package of promising strategic rail projects could add an extra 1.1-2.5% to Russia's GDP growth by 2020.

In particular, the development of the Trans-Siberian and the Baikal-Amur Main Line (BAM) will result in total revenues of about 500 billion roubles for the budget of the Russian Federation in the 30-year planning period, while the budget investment of 260 billion roubles in the project will be paid back in 20 years when discounted. The mere announcement of the plan to modernise the BAM has already led to a significant increase in applications from shippers over and above the volume forecast in the project, said Yakunin.

The construction of the Moscow – Kazan – Yekaterinburg high-speed line will provide in aggregate 11.7 trillion roubles to Russia's GDP growth in the first 12 years of the line's operation and an increase in tax revenues of 3.8 trillion roubles at forecast prices, which exceeds by multiples the cost of construction.

"Infrastructure development of major agglomerations, such as the Moscow transport hub, in combination with high-speed inter-regional lines, will also lead to a marked acceleration in GDP growth," said Vladimir Yakunin.