Russian Transport Ministry does not want to shift container traffic from roads to railways

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The Russian Ministry of Transportation is aiming this week to resolve the issue of shifting its container traffic from roads to railways.
      The intention prompted by the Federal Russian Customs and opposed by Finland was raised in connection with the 13th St. Petersburg Economic Forum that closed on Saturday.
      “The Transport Ministry does not endorse the shift. We are now conducting discussions to find a solution that would be fair for everybody”, Russian Ministry of Transportation Director, Highways, Oleg Belozerov told Helsingin Sanomat on Saturday.
     
Vladimir Yakunin, the president of Russian Railways, was surprised about the Finns’ reluctance to switch to a form of transportation that is much more sustainable from the point of view of the environment, as Finland usually pays a lot of attention to environmental questions.
      “In Finland a strong movement has arisen against the switch”, Yakunin said in a Friday panel discussion on ‘Logistics’.
      Yakunin accompanied Vladimir Putin on the Russian Prime Minister’s visit to Finland on Wednesday last week. Yakunin is generally considered to be one of the members of Putin’s inner circle.
      According to Finland, the shift to railways would require a lot of time, for both countries would need to make improvements to their rail networks and terminals.
     
Last year Russia put into effect at short notice a decision to ban car transporters from using the Vaalimaa border crossing point.
      The same has been feared to happen with regard to container traffic as well.
      At the end of May the Russian Government allowed car transporters to use the Vaalimaa and Torfyanovka border crossing points until the end of this year.
      According to the Vaalimaa Customs, however, so far no car transporters have passed through the post.
      On Saturday Belozerov refused to answer questions of when the transports might begin. He said that, too, will be decided on this week.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Motion in Russian Duma may cause through traffic via Finland to stop (19.5.2009)

See also:
  Russian plan to move container transport from highways to rails to be discussed during Putin visit (2.6.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat