A forum of big time projects

The 7th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) has ended in Vladivostok. During its four days, representatives of the country’s largest companies, including Russian Railways, discussed issues of international project development, including the organization of logistics processes.  As a result of the EEF-2022, 296 agreements worth in total 3.272 trillion rubles were signed, 33 of which are aimed at the development of transport and logistics. 

As Dmitry Murev, General Director of Russian Railways Logistics, told 1520.international, the Eastern Economic Forum takes on special significance in the current environment.

"On the one hand, the Far East is becoming the main logistics hub for cargoes from practically all over the country. On the other hand, centers of economic activity not only of Russia, but also of the entire Asia-Pacific region, are gradually moving here," explained Dmitry Murev.

For Russian Railways the EEF-2022 was especially productive. The company's delegation headed by General Director - Chairman of the Management Board Oleg Belozerov participated in all key discussions at the forum. 

In addition, during the four days of the event the holding company and its structural subdivisions concluded a number of agreements with representatives of the authorities and the transport community. Most of the documents signed by Russian Railways and its subsidiaries touched upon the development of transport infrastructure in the east of this country. 

One of those documents was an agreement between Russian Railways, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, Russian Railways Business Asset and the Government of Primorsky Territory. At the EEF platform the parties agreed on joint implementation of the Grodekovo container terminal project.




According to the document, the partners will jointly elaborate the project's road map, and determine the optimal management scheme and sources of financing.

Another agreement, aimed at the development of a network of transport and logistic centers, was signed by the representatives of the holding company with the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the Government of Primorsky Territory and TransContainer PJSC. The document provides for cooperation in implementation of the project of Uglovaya transport and logistics center. It is assumed that the parties will conduct a preliminary assessment of investments, establish the optimal scheme of project management and expected sources of financing, and prepare a road map for the project implementation.



One more important topic reflected in the holding company's agreements was the creation of new logistics services for the transportation of products. Thus, on September 7 on the sidelines of the WEF-2022 Russian Railways Logistics and the Russian Post agreed on the organization of new schemes for the delivery of goods to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. 



The development of freight delivery logistics is also included in the plans of another subsidiary of the holding company - on the third day of the forum, Russian Railways Business Asset and Terminal Astafiev signed a memorandum of understanding to develop container transportation in the Russian domestic and international traffic. The document provides for cooperation in the organization of multimodal services with the use of infrastructure of the terminal in Nakhodka Bay.  Railways Business Asset will be responsible for attracting freight and providing logistics and rolling stock, while Terminal Astafiev will take care of sea transportation.

Vyacheslav Sarayev, General Director of Russian Railways Business Asset, is sure that strengthening of cooperation with Terminal Astafiev will allow offering a reliable competitive service with optimal delivery time and will create new opportunities for interaction between Russia and the APR countries.

The deliverables of the 7th Eastern Economic Forum also included agreements aimed at digitalization of business processes. On the first day of the forum, representatives of Russian Railways and TransContainer agreed on the integration of iSales and RZD Market online services.

According to Victor Markov, TransContainer's Director, the signed agreement will make it possible to integrate the iSales online service developed by TransContainer into the RZD Market trading platform. This will allow the platform users to calculate the cost and to order container transportation of goods purchased on the Russian Railways Marketplace in a few clicks. 

Note: the EEF-2022 was held from 5 through 8 September on the campus of Far Eastern Federal University.

Anastasia Baranets

21 september 2022