Travel with an extra charge – Newspaper Kommersant No. 24 (7469) dated 02/09/2023
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The Accounts Chamber stated that the suspension of supplies of transponders and DSRC antennas for them to Russia may lead to an increase in prices for devices for toll road users. Stocks of devices from European suppliers are running out, Kommersant found out. At the same time, developed domestic analogues are more expensive than imported ones. Avtodor, however, is reassuring: there will be no shortage of transponders, and the price will not exceed 6,000 rubles.
The Accounts Chamber (CA) has published the results of an audit of spending on the construction of roads included in the Europe-Western China route. Among other problems, the document describes the situation with transponders – devices for debiting money from a toll road user’s account. These devices, we recall, allow you to drive through the toll plaza (TOC) without stopping. And on roads with the Free Stream system (Central Ring Road, sections M-12 and the Moscow High-Speed Diameter) there is no longer a toll plaza: money is debited automatically with the help of a camera system. At the same time, on a number of routes, transponders allow you to get a discount to the base fare. In circulation, according to the JV, citizens have 3.5 million devices of different issuers.
The systems used in Russia for reading transponders are based on Western DSRC standards, the auditors emphasize, the equipment is produced only by European companies.
“In connection with the imposed sanctions, the supply of DSRC transponders and antennas to Russia was suspended,” the joint venture report says. “Some European manufacturers refused to conclude new contracts (Norwegian Q-Free, Austrian Kapsch), some manufacturers expressed their potential readiness (for supplies. — “b”), but are awaiting the lifting of restrictions and the resolution of logistics issues (French Gea).” In August 2022, according to the joint venture, transponder supplies ran out. However, in September, Avtodor managed to obtain some of the new devices under existing agreements with European partners, which will last until April.
Meanwhile, the demand for transponders continues to grow. So, at the end of the year, traffic will open along the entire M-12 highway: according to Avtodor, 70% of highway users will need such devices. If an average of 15,000 devices are sold per month, then in spring and summer demand grows three to five times, the company predicts.
In the Russian Federation, attempts have already been made to establish the production of domestic transponders.
It follows from the materials of the joint venture that RD Group LLC (St. Petersburg) received a grant from the Agency for Technological Development to create a domestic ASIC chip (the central part of the European transponder), but it will appear no earlier than 2024, the auditors write. RD Group and the agency did not respond to Kommersant’s requests yesterday. The Obukhov plant (part of the Almaz-Antey concern), Sorb Engineering and Fort Telecom created devices using “hybrid technology” based on existing parts, they continue in the joint venture. We are talking about the use of simple radio components – diodes, transistors, etc., Vladimir Makarenko, co-owner of Fort Telecom, explained to Kommersant. The rest of the companies did not respond to Kommersant’s request. The first prototype of the domestic transponder came out five times larger than the imported counterpart, and later it was reduced to standard sizes, Viktoria Erkenova, deputy chairman of the board of Avtodor, said earlier.
“Hybrid” technology is “more expensive, but acceptable for a transitional period,” the auditors state. The cost price can be noticeably higher, since Russian components are more expensive than foreign ones, Nikolai Alexandrov, head of contract development and production at GAODI, explained to Kommersant. “Our transponders turned out to be comparable in price to foreign counterparts,” Vladimir Makarenko from Fort Telecom assured Kommersant. Note that the T-pass transponder now costs 3–3.5 thousand rubles. in the official Avtodor store, on marketplaces (Yandex.Market, Ozon), the price reaches 5 thousand rubles.
Avtodor has temporarily restricted the sale of transponders: they can only be purchased at service centers of Avtodor-Toll Roads LLC (a subsidiary of the state-owned company), an online store or on the websites of some “network partners”.
This was done “to maintain supply in the M-12 attraction zone,” the state-owned company explained to Kommersant. They added that four contracts have already been concluded with Russian manufacturers, one of them will enter industrial production in April-May. “The cost for the end user will vary from 3,000 to 6,000 rubles. a piece, the line will include several series – from standard devices to limited and premium ones, – Kommersant was told at the state-owned company. – Western manufacturers have been creating, honing and optimizing their technologies and production for decades. Russian production is just starting this process and over time will also be able to significantly reduce production costs, which, in turn, will have a positive effect on selling prices.” In 2023, Avtodor plans to distribute 530 thousand transponders, by the end of the year 362 thousand devices will remain in warehouses. “This balance includes the risks of possible short deliveries due to changing conditions, for example, the tightening of Western sanctions,” Kommersant was assured.
The North-Western Concession Company (SZKK, the operator of the Moscow region section of the M-11 highway) told Kommersant that they have stocks of transponders for a year and are concerned about finding new suppliers. “At the moment, demand is being met in full, there is a stock of devices,” Kommersant was told at the Northern Capital Highway company (operator of the Western High-Speed Diameter). “We are actively working on options for further replenishment of the warehouse, including negotiations with foreign suppliers and potential Russian producers. Given the change in suppliers and logistics schemes, an increase in the cost of devices is clearly likely.”
“The ASIC development and fine-tuning can take up to two years,” says Nikolai Alexandrov from the State Autonomous Institute of Aviation Industry. “At the same time, we need to organize the production of microcircuits. As far as I know, we do not currently have free capacities, their preparation may take about three years. You can, of course, organize production in China and do it quickly enough.”
Earlier, we recall, users faced a shortage of foreign chips in other industries. In February 2023, Kommersant reported, the authorities suspended the issuance of biometric passports: Zelenograd Mikron did not have time to produce the required number of microchips on time.
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