RZD Plans to Development Mongolian Railways

Oleg Belozerov, “Russian Railways are interested in developing Mongolian transit and ready to provide necessary technological assistance.”

Trust management of the Russian government’s stock of shares of Ulaanbaatar Railway allows Russian Railways, in coordination with the Mongolian party, to efficiently make informed decisions on the cargo business and transit developments, said Oleg Belozerov, President of Russian Railways, speaking at the ‘Russia – Mongolia – Far East’ session of the Eastern Economic Forum on Wednesday.

Thanks to joint effort, in 2014 the historical maximum of freight transit was achieved by the Ulan-Bator Railway – 21 million tons; in the first 7 months the growth exceeding 12% from last year.

Today, as the head of Russian Railways stressed, the first joint task is to develop the railway communication between China, Mongolia and Russia, taking into account that the Program of the Russia-Mongolia-China Economic Corridor was adopted last year. Company experts are now actively involved in the development of the mechanism for its implementation, noted Oleg Belozerov. According to the president of Russian Railways estimates, the most promising project is the development of the Central Railway Corridor (Ulan-Ude – Naushki – Sukhbaatar – Ulaanbaatar – Zamyn-Uud – Erlian), which involves the modernization of the Ulaanbaatar Railway. The head of the company stressed that this project should be dealt with without delay.

The President of Russian Railways JSC believes that it’s important to eliminate any hurdle to better stimulate the development of Mongolian transit through removing infrastructure limitations in terms of throughput and carrying capacity, as well as by providing optimum technologies for receiving and transferring cars, introducing electronic document processing, supporting fast and simple customs clearance and other control procedures. This is a big job that should be done together, said Oleg Belozerov.

“For our part, we are not only implementing the large-scale upgrading program for BAM and Trans-Siberian lines, but we are already modeling its next stage. Thus, the cargo of Mongolian transit will not suffer from the Russian infrastructure restraints on its way to Europe,” said Oleg Belozerov.

The President of Russian Railways noted that the potential for cooperation between Russia and Mongolia need to be assessed from a wider perspective, avoiding the strict limitations of one industry or one mode of transport. From this perspective, Mongolian manufacturers could use the capacities of Russian ports seizing the opportunity to enter new markets. In this regard, Oleg Belozerov suggested that the Mongolian party consider possible options for participation in the port operation.
Addressing President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga, who participated in the session, the head of Russian Railways stressed that the company is interested in developing the Mongolian transport infrastructure and is ready to provide all necessary technical and technological assistance to Mongolian colleagues.