Russian Railways plans trans-Siberian investments

   The Russian Railways will invest in infrastructure development projects in the Far Eastern region of the country valued at 246 billion rubles ($7.48 billion), said Valeriy Reshetnikov, the railroad’s senior vice-president on Tuesday in Khabarovsk during the plenary session of the Fifth Far Eastern International Economic Forum.
   Reshetnikov said the railroad introduced measures to develop the Eastern Trans-Siberian area before 2015. Additionally, the highest levels of government have approved a strategic development program for the Baikal-Amur Railroad (BAM) through 2020.
   The Russian Railways claims modernization of the Trans-Siberian Railway, as well as BAM, is of great significance to the development of international rail transportation, especially between Europe and Asia.
   However, for the full development and modernization of the existing rail network of the Far East region, the efforts of Russian Railways alone are not enough. Government support is needed.
   On its own, the Russian Railway can only invest 63 billion rubles ($1.9 billion). Thus, prior to 2015, in order to meet the current plans, the government needs to appoint an additional 183 billion rubles ($5.57 billion). In general, the development of the network requires more than 400 billion rubles (about $12.2 billion).
   These investments are needed to ensure sustainable economic growth in the region and the country, Reshetnikov said. He added that sources of these funds could include the issuance of infrastructure bonds, the improvement of tax policy, and public investment.