Page 103 - RusRPTApr19

internal communication and IT systems, and renting out the rest of the real estate owned by RZD, a source close to the company told Vedomosti. RZD currently owns and rents over 50 buildings in Moscow.
● Ships
The Russian government allowed 28 ships under foreign flags to transport locally produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas condensate along the Northeast Passage until December 30, 2043, according to a statement seen by PRIME on March 18. The permission covers ships with at least 15-year freight contracts carrying LNG or gas condensate from the Port of Sabetta to the first port of unloading or transshipment and ships carrying gas from the Port of Sabetta to the ports of Murmansk or Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
● Roads
Moscow ring road to be finished by Mosinzhproekt. Deputy Mayor of Moscow Marat Khusnullin announced at a conference in Cannes that Moscow’s new ring road will be completed by Mosinzhproekt, which is owned by the city of Moscow. ANALYSIS: Construction on the ring road began in 2012. The project was initially given to Arkady Rotenburg’s company Mostotrest because Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wanted one contractor who could finish the project quickly. Since then, one of the road’s four segments has been completed, one is 80% finished, and the other two have not made much progress. The fact that the project is being handed off to Mosinzhproekt is bad news for Rotenburg, especially if (as Khusnullin claims) that decision was made by Putin himself. Mosinzhproekt will receive about 350 billion rubles ($5.3 billion) for the project; it is estimated that the whole project will cost 630 billion rubles ($9.6 billion). Mosinzhproekt will plan the project, act as general contractor, and hire subcontractors to do the actual construction. Mosinzhproekt typically operates on low margins and gives subcontractors low margins as well. Because it is owned by the city, Mosinzhproekt is less interested in making a profit than private companies. There was talk of turning portions of the road into a concession, but Vedomosti’s sources say this is no longer being considered.
State road building company Avtodor will need about RUB45bn ($0.7bn) to eliminate eleven addition problem points discovered on the route of the Moscow Central Ring Road (CKAD), Vedomosti daily said on March 25 citing unnamed sources. Reportedly, the road which is supposed to relieve Russia's capital traffic jam problem by diverting transit cargo trucks, would not be able to accommodate the planned transportation throughput. The four-line highway was estimated to cost RUB313bn in 2017 and was planned to be completed in 2021. The project redrafted several times due to challenges discovered on the ground, mostly west of Moscow.
● Other
Russia showed flat freight volumes in February, with 99.7mnt (-0.1% y/y) of cargo transported by rail. Gondola lease rates were stuck at their historical maximum of RUB1,925/day for the third consecutive month, despite continuing fleet expansion.
Coal. Coal prices were under pressure from low trade activity in western Europe and poor demand in China (the main consumer in the east). However,
103 RUSSIA Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com