The ghost of the investment tariff is walking along BAM – Newspaper Kommersant No. 39 (7484) of 03/09/2023

Officials cannot agree on the shift in the deadline for the commissioning of facilities in the eastern sections of the BAM proposed by Russian Railways. An option is now being considered in which, if the deadline cannot be rescheduled, the construction of facilities will be financed by an increased tariff for shippers in the direction of the port of Vanino. The size of the investment tariff is unknown. Analysts believe that in the face of uncertainty with the speed of construction of the Eastern landfill, shippers will not make additional payments.

The departments did not reach a consensus on the proposed adjustment of the measures of the second stage of the modernization of the BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway proposed by Russian Railways (see Kommersant dated December 12, 2022 and January 23). We are talking about the postponement of the commissioning of 14 facilities at the Komsomolsk-Sortirovochny-Vanino and Volochaevka-Komsomolsk-Sortirovochny sections from 2024 to 2025, as a result of which their nominal carrying capacity will decrease by 24 million tons (although Russian Railways notes that only 8 .6 million tons, since the actual cargo flow will be lower than planned). Consignors to Vanino were offered to redirect flows to the Nizhneleninskoye-Tongjiang border crossing and the ports of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The Council of Consumers of Russian Railways opposed this.

At the same time, it follows from the minutes of the meeting with First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on February 17 (“Kommersant” saw the document), not all departments support the proposals of Russian Railways: the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Economy and the Federal Antimonopoly Service are in favor, and the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Construction are against. The second part of the proposals – the postponement of the electrification of these two sections to 2028, the financial effect of which was previously estimated by the Consumer Council at 107 billion rubles – was supported by all departments, follows from the protocol. According to the document, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Construction and Russian Railways were instructed to additionally consider the transfer of 14 facilities for 2025. If it turns out that this is impossible, it is proposed to discuss the possibility of introducing an investment tariff for shippers on Vanino. The size of the investment tariff is not specified.

This is not the first time that Russian Railways considers the possibility of financing construction projects at the Eastern range at the expense of the investment tariff. So, in 2021, an option was considered in which Russian Railways expands the BAM infrastructure by 332.6 billion rubles, ensuring the export of 16.6 million tons of Elgaugol’s products, and attracts 188 billion rubles for this. funds from the NWF. To pay back investments from the NWF, they wanted to lay an investment tariff of 692 rubles into the project. per ton for Yakut shippers (see Kommersant dated December 8, 2021).

A source among shippers is dissatisfied with the emerging inequality: it turns out that among all shippers who finance the expansion of the BAM at the expense of the tariff and surcharges, a group stands out (those who ship to Vanino), who are required to pay extra for exactly those activities that were originally included in the second stage. Russian Railways told Kommersant that discussions are underway, decisions will be made jointly, taking into account the opinions of all interested parties. The secretariat of Mr. Belousov did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

The head of Infoline-Analytics, Mikhail Burmistrov, notes that with the strengthening of control, including from the side of Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, Russian Railways is forced to more clearly fulfill its obligations for the construction and commissioning of specific facilities on the BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway, and not only in part carrying capacity, which is influenced by a number of additional factors. However, the expert believes that a side effect of tightening control has been a change in the priorities of the monopoly: the focus of attention and resources are directed to those objects that are more likely to be completed on time, and not to those that have a greater impact on carrying capacity.

As for the investment tariff, the logic in this proposal is obvious, but shippers are unlikely to agree to this in the face of uncertainty with the timing of the construction of other facilities of the Eastern landfill and without guarantees of cargo delivery along the route as a whole, and not on a specific site, the expert believes. In his opinion, shippers will be afraid that even if the objects for which they pay the investment tariff are built, others may not be completed because of this and a new bottleneck will appear on the infrastructure.

Natalya Skorlygina