PRESS: Russian Railways want 17 bln rbl subsidy over metal prices

MOSCOW, Aug 3 (PRIME) -- Russian Railways has asked the government for 17 billion rubles to complete road repair works in 2021 because of the metal price growth, business daily Vedomosti reported Tuesday, citing a letter of CEO Oleg Belozyorov.

Belozyorov said that the steel framework prices soared by 36% on the quarter as of July 20, round hot-rolled steel by 54%, sheet zinc-covered steel by 72%, sheet hot-rolled steel by 86%. Rail supplier Evraz raised prices by 27% from August 1.

Russian Railways can fail to build 1,200 kilometers of road if the subsidy is not provided in 2021. Belozyorov offered an alternative to subsidy envisaging changing tariffs for cargo traffic, raising the container fee by 4.75%, canceling dead freight discounts for high-capacity railcars and boosting anthracite transportation fees.

(73.0156 – U.S. $1)

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