Minister Elvira Nabiullina this week said to newspaper Vedomosti that the railway monopoly’s investment programme for 2009 might have to be reduced with up to 30 percent. That means that the investments of the company will be cut from previously planned 432 billion RUB to 300 RUB. Meanwhile, the goods volumes of the company are dropping quickly. Goods turnover in November was down 20 percent, and is expected to fall another 28 percent this month, Vedomosti writes. The investment cuts might however not stall at 30 percent. Unless tariffs are increased significantly in 2009, the company might have to cut costs further, a company representative says to the newspaper. A cut in investments in Russian railway development might have consequences for Northwest Russia, where several projects are under planning. Among them is the extension of the railway grid to new industrial objects in Murmansk Oblast, and the projected construction of the Belkomur railway line between Perm and Arkhangelsk.
