OREANDA-NEWS. July 26, 2012. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, met with employees of North Caucasus Railways who were affected by the deadly flood in Krymsk on 6 and 7 July. The employees gathered at Krymskaya station were mainly interested in learning about Company support to reconstruct their damaged homes and build new ones, reported the press-centre of RZD.    

Vladimir Yakunin praised the self-sacrifice of all employees at the North Caucasus Railways during and after the emergency, which helped to restore promptly normal passenger and cargo train service.

"In addition to assistance from the Russian Railways’ holding, we also have voluntary donations from our employees. The account already has 22 million roubles, and donations are continuing to come in," said Vladimir Yakunin.

Yakunin announced the creation of a public council in Krymsk to allocate the money raised. The council will consist of workers who were victims of the flood and be chaired by Vladimir Goloskokov, the head of North Caucasus Railways. The council will distribute the donated funds among victims according to the damage and losses they have suffered.

After the meeting, Yakunin inspected a number of railways sections which have been repaired since the floods. He also proposed changing the rules of turnaround maintenance and the modernisation of tracks based on the conclusions of specialised research centres.