Russian Railways will show generosity for the future

In 2023, Russian Railways will increase advance payments for work on the BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway by almost 80% compared to the level of 2022, up to 70 billion rubles. The advances are intended to ensure that contractors purchase at a fixed cost, but the contractors themselves say they do not cover all material costs. Analysts note that even such a sharp increase in the volume of advances is justified in a situation where construction needs to be drastically forced.

According to the results of 2022, JSC Russian Railways advanced contractors working at BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway for 2023 by 39.4 billion rubles, two sources familiar with the plans of JSC Russian Railways told Kommersant. In 2023, the volume of advances to be issued for subsequent years will increase by almost 80%, to 70.4 billion rubles, they say. A source familiar with the position of Russian Railways noted that such an amount of advance payment “will allow contractors to prepare for the season in advance.” Russian Railways OJSC did not give comments to Kommersant.

Advances fund a significant portion of the work at the Eastern Test Site. So, in 2021, with a 100% cash execution of the investment program for the Eastern test site for 134.3 billion rubles. only 89.3 billion were completed by the work itself – another 44.9 billion rubles. were advanced with the transfer of work to 2022 (see Kommersant dated December 21, 2021). “We consider it far-sighted to insure against the growth in the cost of materials,” Oleg Belozerov, general director of Russian Railways, explained in an interview with Kommersant. “By advancing contractors, we fix certain cost elements and create a reserve for the next year. First of all, this concerns the cost of metal structures and everything that takes a long time to manufacture.” He specified that bank guarantees were provided to guarantee the return of funds. At the same time, a source among the monopoly’s contractors tells Kommersant that the advances are not enough to cover the growing costs of purchasing materials, equipment and hiring labor, and noted that it would be more profitable for contractors if the monopoly paid the costs according to the estimate.

The interlocutor of Kommersant, who is familiar with the discussion around the Eastern test site, recalls that Russian Railways expressed the position that advance payments for future years should be 40-50% of the planned development volume for the year. In the fall, when discussing spending in 2023, he says, it was generally proposed to advance 100 billion rubles. future activities. According to forecasts for the execution of work in 2022 (“Kommersant” saw the document), cash execution should amount to 162.6 billion rubles, actual – 131 billion rubles.

According to Mikhail Burmistrov, head of Infoline-Analytics, the practice of advance payment in the presence of a reliable pool of contractors is unequivocally positive: it is necessary to give the opportunity to create backlogs, and advance payment makes this possible and ensures the stability of payments throughout the chain of subcontractors. Now it is necessary to ensure higher rates of construction and commissioning of facilities, which, although they have grown this year, he says, but still do not meet the expectations of shippers. Taking into account the plans of Russian Railways to almost double the number of builders at BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway (13.8 thousand people worked this year, 30 thousand are planned for 2023), in the context of the mobilization carried out and the extremely ambitious volume of construction and repair work, there is a need in massive advances. It is important, says Mr. Burmistrov, that the funds come to subcontractors at the right time. It is difficult to judge how efficiently the advanced funds are spent: only the number of lawsuits and the number of bankrupt contractors can speak of this, the expert believes. At the same time, he recalls that now not only Russian Railways, but also the office of First Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin is monitoring the construction.

Natalya Skorlygina