OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2012. "One of the main strategic objectives of the Russian Railways’ holding is to make efficient use of the transit potential of Russia’s railways and achieve deeper integration into the Eurasian transport and logistics system, reported the press-centre of RZD. 

This means, above all, attracting transit freight to the transcontinental East - West direction and forming an integrated railway infrastructure on the North - South International Transport Corridor," said Valery Reshetnikov, Senior Vice President at Russian Railways.

Reshetnikov was speaking during a round table on the integration of International Transport Corridors held during the III International Business Forum "Strategic Partnership 1520: Central Asia" on 13 November 2012 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

Reshetnikov noted that establishing the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan had contributed significantly to increasing the competitiveness of transit shipments.

Within the Customs Union, a common customs tariff applies, as do a number of other common measures regulating trade with third countries.

Reducing the number of customs operations is leading to lower logistics costs and cutting freight delivery times by 1-2 days across several states in the Customs Union.

"We have been working in the Common Economic Space (CES) for almost a year, and in that period, international rail freight transport within the countries making up the CES has increased by 9% to 62.8 million tons compared to the same period in 2011," said Reshetnikov, who added that realising the full potential of the Customs Union and the CES should be the next step towards further integration.

One of the major aspects of the integration process, as set out by the presidents of the three member countries, is to establish a harmonised transport policy, which should also include realising the transit potential of the CES.

Valery Reshetnikov also noted that at the moment, the vast majority of freight shipped from China to Europe was exported from the country’s ports on the east coast and that industry was concentrated mainly in the east. In addition, China’s export infrastructure in the eastern regions was heavily overloaded and the country faced acute problems with mass migration from the central and western regions to the east.

To relieve this situation, the government was taking active steps to encourage the development of production in the interior, in the central and western regions, a trend which was greatly increasing the potential for rail transit across the Common Economic Space.

Among the possible initiatives to attract Eurasian transit, Reshetnikov mentioned the establishment of the United Transport and Logistics Company, which was set up using transport and logistics assets drawn from the three member states.

"Joint participation in the United Transport and Logistics Company will encourage railway companies to expedite the introduction of a single approach to transport shipments, an integrated settlement system, uniform standards for services and an integrated information system. This business idea also has the potential to reduce empty wagon runs. Reducing delays at customs clearance and operations on handling and reloading containers at borders, as well as shippers no longer needing to conclude contracts for shipments with several operators, will increase the attractiveness of the proposed service in the eyes of consumers," said Reshetnikov.