OREANDA-NEWS. At the XI St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a round table on “Economic Integration in the CIS - Opportunities and Challenges for Business” was attended by CIS government officials and Russian and international business circles.

Also taking part in the round table was Vladimir Yakunin, president of Russian Railways, who said that the “Rail Council, which unites the CIS and the Baltic countries, is the first real example of integration in the rail-business community”.

Yakunin emphasised the priorities of Russian Railways: integration and innovative and social aspects during the reform of rail transport now underway in Russia.

According to Yakunin, there is colossal potential for further integration within the CIS in view of the already existing North-South and East-West international transport corridors and the corridors still to be built.

“The integration of Russia’s railway network into the Eurasian transportation system demands active cooperation, above all with our closest partners using the 1520 mm broad-gauge track. So we have to work closely with the rail sectors in the CIS and Baltic countries and in Finland and Mongolia”, said Yakunin.

“In order to concentrate the efforts of the business community of our countries in developing and increasing the efficiency of our railway systems, we organised the “Strategic Partnership 1520, stressed Yakunin”.

“An important result of the work is the joint preparation of a project with European partners to extend the broad-gauge track into the centre of Western Europe. In Russia’s Far East, we are working on reconstructing the Trans-Korean Main Line, with a connection to the Trans-Siberian, which will allow us to handle transit freight from Japan, China, Korean and the Pacific region to Europe”.

“Today, when rail and intermodal transport routes are becoming major systems for global integration, they are no longer just the prerogative of transporters, but are becoming an element of serious politics”, said Yakunin.