So that they are not empty – Newspaper Kommersant No. 233 (7434) dated 12/15/2022

Russian Railways offers a radical way to stimulate the transportation of containers in gondola cars from the Far East – to increase by 51% the tariff for empty mileage of cars from the stations of the region. Market participants emphasize that this will greatly worsen the economics of coal routes, which require a quick return of empty coal. Also, the monopoly, as previously proposed by the Ministry of Transport, wants to increase the tariff for the transportation of containers in communication with the Far East and reduce the prices for their transportation to the ports of the northwest in a mirror image. Sources of “Kommersant” admit that this will increase the income of Russian Railways, but will not bring any other benefit.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the letter of the Deputy General Director of Russian Railways Alexei Shilo dated December 2. The document says that in order to stimulate the export of containers in the western direction, Russian Railways wants to increase the tariff for the transportation of empty gondola cars from the stations of the Far Eastern Railway (FER) by 51%. We are talking about all appointments, except for the same Far Eastern Railway, as well as the Trans-Baikal Railway and the Railways of Yakutia.

JSC Russian Railways confirmed to Kommersant that, in addition to the decision to provide a 20.7% discount on the transportation of containers in gondola cars (see Kommersant of September 28 and October 31), an increase in tariffs for empty gondola cars from Far Eastern Railway stations is being discussed. “This is a forced measure, it is aimed at increasing the economic interest of gondola car owners in providing rolling stock for the transportation of containers from the Far East and reducing empty runs,” Russian Railways explains. cargo base in the directions “West-East” and “East-West”.

After the closure with the introduction of sanctions, the main direction of container traffic – through the ports of the northwest – they moved to the Far East. Following the opening of Chinese ports and factories in late summer after COVID-19, Russian ports began to receive a huge amount of container cargo, which continues to grow on the eve of the New Year holidays. Congestion formed, the problem began to be solved at the state level. In November, the president instructed “to consider the issue of changing the tariff policy in 2023 for container transportation of goods to seaports.”

However, the idea of ​​discouraging empty railcars from the Far East is unlikely to be met with understanding by coal miners, for whom the quick return of empty railcars from ports is the key to the operation of convenient ring routes.

The authorities and JSC Russian Railways have repeatedly raised the issue of imposing certain sanctions for refusing to pick up a passing cargo in the process of transporting coal (see Kommersant of January 26). The interlocutor of Kommersant in one of the large operator companies says that the technology of Russian Railways provides for the rapid release of port stations, when all the cars leave empty and then go on routes in Khabarovsk: this speeds up the movement on the network and improves the supply of cars to the coal regions, he recalls . Also, not all unloading from gondola cars coincides with container loading points.

“The proposal of Russian Railways will lead to a slowdown in the network, a shortage of cars in the loading regions and will not lead to an increase in container shipments, although it will certainly increase the monopoly’s income,” Kommersant’s source says.

Another interlocutor of Kommersant recalls that in the same order of the president there is a clause on the export of additional volumes of coal to the east no later than mid-April to compensate for the non-export for this year. Interfering with the technology for shipping coal east would exacerbate existing traffic problems at the Eastern Range and prevent these plans from being fulfilled, he says.

Another proposal made by Russian Railways is to increase by 11.2% the tariffs for the transportation of loaded and empty containers to the ports and border crossings of the Far East and from the stations of the Far Eastern Railway in import and domestic traffic, reducing the tariff by the same amount when moving to the northwest .

This initiative was announced a month ago by the head of the Ministry of Transport, Vitaly Savelyev (see Kommersant of November 17). Then the interlocutors of Kommersant met with bewilderment the offer of a discount for transportation to the northwest, noting that there was no market there since the container lines left and European hubs stopped working with Russian containers.

The interlocutor of Kommersant in the industry believes that the main reason for the introduction of this measure is “the material interest of Russian Railways in the marginality of container transportation by rail.” Another interlocutor, who also considers the goal of increasing the income of Russian Railways, draws attention to the fact that the proposal to raise tariffs in the Far East is proposed to be fixed in the price list 10-01 (the main tariff document of Russian Railways), which means to introduce them forever, and reduce them in the northwest — carry out within the framework of the right of Russian Railways to give discounts within the tariff corridor and limit it to the end of 2023. Another Kommersant source clarifies that the first and second proposals of Russian Railways contradict each other: the idea to increase tariffs in the eastern direction, which does not distinguish between a platform and a gondola car, “does not agree with either the proposal to attract containers into gondola cars, or with the idea of ​​increasing the volume containers from the east.

Natalya Skorlygina