Anti-monopoly service fined Russian Railways for €55.5 million for abuse of dominance

Moscow, November 15. Federal anti-monopoly service (FAS) has fined Russian Railways OJSC for 2.24 billion Rubles (€55.5 million) for “abuse of dominance”, as the service announced. Many companies and industry associations have complained about expensive services and poor quality of railroad transportation recently.

Russian Railways had to transport all cargoes at legally stipulated rates, irrespective of its own problems, and to attract available rolling stock in case of lack of carriages, FAS says in a press release.

Due to the new structure of the company, Russian Railways worked with affiliate structures as with agents, so with actual abundance of rolling stock there has been artifical lack of it. As FAS deputy director Anatoliy Golomolzin said, recent presidential instructions to regard an option of private railroad deliveries may change the whole situation in principle.

However, affiliates of Russian Railways sometimes develop interesting alternatives to resolve the problem. For instance, in Yekaterinburg the company started to offer combined railroad and marine delivery of lumber in May 2012. Russian Railways undertook all the risks, including marine ones, and suggested consolidation of wagon load, so that small businesses with tiny cargo volumes could take advantage of the service.

Have your ever used any options like this one? What difficulties and pecularities has your company run into with railroad transportation in Russia? Tell us about your experience! If we collect enough opinions, we’ll issue an article in the upcoming Weekly.