Report: Russian Railways sees investment deficit, loading down 5%

MOSCOW, Apr 24 (PRIME) -- Russian Railways is developing a stress scenario due to the coronavirus pandemic, under which there will be a shortage of funds for its 2020 investment program and a 5% cargo loading fall, Kommersant business daily reported late on Thursday quoting sources.

According to a source, the company will have only 210 billion rubles to spend on its investment program, which will have to be cut to 698 billion rubles, out of the planned 821 billion rubles. The sources to cover the 488 billion ruble deficit are unclear. Taking into account the need of subsidiary Federal Passenger Company to buy railcars, the combined deficit reaches 525 billion rubles.

“A source said that the current forecast for the company’s main activity encompasses reduction of cargo loading by 7.7% as compared with a 1.315 billion tonne plan, which means a 5% contraction as compared with 2019…This year Russian Railways expects a loss of 17.5 billion rubles instead of a 50.9 billion ruble profit,” Kommersant reported.

The company will have money to finance only 80% of its comprehensive plan for infrastructure upgrade. In general, the company will only have money to cover 30% of the adjusted investment program and 25.6% of the initial plan.

The source told the business daily that Russian Railways discussed different options to cover deficit -- to ask the government to order state banks to buy 335 billion rubles of the company’s perpetual bonds, to ask for a 200 billion ruble capital injection from the National Wealth Fund, and a target 37 billion ruble support of Federal Passenger Company.

But another source told Kommersant that the National Wealth Fund was not an option anymore, and that the perpetual bonds is the main financing source. 

(75.1290 rubles – U.S. $1)

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