OREANDA-NEWS. December 02, 2010.  The reform of JSC Russian Railways should contribute to resolving the current problems on the rail freight market in West Siberia. That was the conclusion of a recent inter-regional round table held in Kemerovo.

The meeting was organized by the Novosibirsk branch of JSC Freight One. The choice of venue was due to the fact that Kuzbass coal is a priority cargo along the West-Siberian railway line. Operations are carried out in the region by major coal companies such as JSC SUEK, JSC Ugolnaya Kompania Kuzbassrazrezugol, LLC Mechel — Trans, JSC Yuzhny Kuzbass, and many others.

The event was attended by representatives of the West-Siberian railway, the Kemerovo regional administration, the Siberian territorial division of the Federal Agency for Rail Transportation, cargo company owners, forwarding companies, and owners of rolling stock.

The main theme of the round table was a discussion of the mechanisms of interaction between authorities and businesses in the transportation process throughout the West Siberian region, as well as the establishment of a Freight Two company, and the consequent structural changes in the market.

In the words of Igor Asaturov, First Deputy General Director of JSC Freight One, 2010 has seen a key moment in the process of reforming JSC Russian Railways: in October the fleet was fully withdrawn from the market and Freight Two commenced operations. "Freight Two has been created primarily to ensure a healthy competitive environment and updated rolling stock" he said. In his opinion, Freight One is ready for change on account of its status as a universal operator and various competitive advantages.

Another key advantage of JSC Freight One is its branch network. The company has 14 branches, each of which independently enters into operating and forwarding contracts, and exercises full control over its fleet in the region where it operates.

"Each branch has its own specifics. We, for example, have excellent performance metrics for the loading of coal, due to the geographical location" notes Evgeny Dolzhenko, director of the Novosibirsk branch of JSC Freight One. "The branch has taken on a considerable amount of coal haulage operations, including the delivery of fuel for the energy industry, and utility and housing services. 52 million tonnes of coal were transported in the first 10 months of 2009, and in 2010 more than 66 million tons were transported over the same period".

JSC Freight One’s cargo shipments along the West Siberian railway currently exceed 8.8 million tonnes per month. In early 2008, when the branch had only just commenced independent operations, the figure was about 4 million per month.

The participants in the interregional round table-customers and partners of JSC Freight One-noted the stability of the branch and the company as a whole.

"Our company now comprises 11 coal producing enterprises; it is still Russia’s largest Russian coal mining company. The volume of exports alone amounts to 19 million tonnes per year. For comparison, this is 25% of all Russian coal exports. To maintain a balance between the interests of companies and consumers, we must be 100% confident in our partner-the carrier. Today we view JSC Freight One as a very serious player in the market and are interested in cooperation" — said Alexander Pronkin, deputy director of JSC Ugolnaya Kompania Kuzbassrazrezugol.

"We are ending 2010 with positive growth" underlined Dmitri Kumov, commercial director of JSC SUEK. "Over the first 10 months of 2010 growth against 2009 has been 9.5%. This is not only what the company deserves; it is also a consequence of the operability of JSC Freight One’s rolling stock, and the result of fulfilling its obligations to the client".

"The working process with the JSC Freight One entails certain difficulties" remarks Evegeny Kuznetsov, acting deputy director for transport and logistics at CJSC Sibuglemet. "But they are outweighed by the positives in our relationship". This year almost 100% of requests for the supply of rolling stock were fulfilled. This is unprecedented in the company’s history. It was made possible through the rapport established with the heads and employees of the Novosibirsk branch of JSC Freight One.

During the meeting, the participants discussed the tariff policy, the quality of the rolling stock, the responsiveness to approving requests from cargo owners, and other issues.

According to the round-table participants, such meetings between cargo owners and rail transport operators are the best way to voice emerging difficulties and work together to find a solution.

"We support the initiative launched by the management of JSC Freight One: right from the start you set a course to exchange opinions with cargo owners in order to work together to ensure the supply of railcars to customers" said Natalia Petrova, commercial director of LLC Dalexpress, in expressing the common view.

At the end of the event, an official ceremony took place to award the first "Path to success" prize to customers and partners of JSC Freight One. 26 nominees received certificates, flowers and gifts, and 11 partners of the company-market leaders in regional transportation-received a "Path to success" statuette.