OREANDA-NEWS. November 18, 2009. An interregional round-table meeting on the problems of developing rail cargo haulage in Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia has been organized and held by JSC Freight One. In attendance were representatives of the Eastern Siberia railway, the Ministry for Housing, Energy, Transport and Communications in the Irkutsk region, as well as managers from around 40 enterprises in the Irkutsk, Amur and Transbaikalia regions.

The free format enabled the guests to discuss solutions to the main topic of the round-table: “The inventory rolling-stock has left the market. Who will provide stable haulage operations?”

Igor Asaturov, first deputy general director for commerce and production at JSC Freight One, shared the company’s plans for the coming year:

“One of Freight One’s priority tasks is to update its railcar fleet. By the end of 2009 32,000 unfit railcars will be written off and in 2010 Freight One will acquire more than 16,000 new ones.”

In addition, 60,000 railcars will be transferred to the ownership of Freight One’s parent company JSC Russian Railways.

In the words of Nikolai Maklygin, first deputy head of the Eastern Siberian railway, this decision is a natural progression towards the appearance of Freight Two.

“The new market model,” said Mr. Maklygin, “when the bulk of haulage will be carried out by 3—4 major companies, including Freight One and Freight Two, will provide a high degree of sustainability and a good balance between competition and efficiency.”

Timur Kuliev, a representative of the Ministry for Housing, Energy, Transport and Communications in the Irkutsk region, noted that this decision would ultimately benefit consumers: “Cargo haulage is one of the most important and socially responsible areas in Siberia. Therefore it is very important for this sphere to be occupied by companies aimed at long-term improvement and development.”