The Russian Railway system1 is in the process of rapid legal, organisational and regulatory reform. This paper is based on a series of discussions with the Government on the reform plans and the progress in implementing reform. The conclusions are not intended to be interpreted as requirements or instructions on the next steps in the process. They instead aim to raise questions where, from observing difficult reform issues in other countries, the team believes further refinement might help the Russian regulatory reforms progress more effectively and in some cases avoid costly mistakes made in other countries. With these suggestions ...

The railways accounted for 5% of Federal Government income in 1999, the last year for which complete data was available, and probably a similar proportion of regional and local government income. This is more than any other industry, including such large export earners as Gazprom (see Table 2.1). Freight operations show a book “profit”1 that covers losses in passenger services. The national railway is the largest ...

The Government of the Russian Federation has embarked on a determined programme of regulatory reform and restructuring of its railways. The decrees and laws already adopted provide clear direction whilst leaving room to adjust the path chosen for restructuring in the light of experience in implementing reforms. Great care has been taken to minimise the risks of disruption to the economy ...

The reform programme rightly stresses the importance of maintaining adequate and transparent accounts for rail sector businesses and progress has been made in improving the accounts for the national railways. Income and expenditure is now recorded in  separate accounts for freight, long distance passenger transport, suburban passenger services and non-transport activities. For the last three years financial planning on the basis of budgets has been applied, with a central system of settlement of accounts. Accumulation of debts as a result of ...

As noted throughout this report, one of the primary objectives for Russian Railway reform has been to address the serious problem of the deteriorating condition of the system by attracting large and sustainable volumes of private investment. Even this early on, the reforms have shown some success in this regard. To consider their likely impact on investments over the longer term, it is useful to divide potential private investment projects into four separate categories, and to consider the likely effects of the reforms on the incentives to invest in each. The four categories suggested are a) rolling stock for haulage by RZhD or independent train operators, ...