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International activities

JSC FPC carries out transportation services to the CIS countries, the Baltic States and to the following 17 European and Asian countries along 24 international routes: Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Italy, China, North Korea, Mongolia, Monaco, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, France, Croatia and the Czech Republic.

The Company participates in major international professional organisations in the field of railway transport

Organisation Status of JSC FPC Date when the status is awarded
The Organisation for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD)

associate member

observer

April 2011

June 2013

The International Rail Transport Committee (CIT) full member May 01, 2012
The International Union of Railways (UIC) international carrier code assigned 2011
European / Asian Assembly of UIC associate member July 2012

In 2014, JSC FPC had to operate in challenging conditions that included a tense geopolitical situation, economic sanctions, and rapid devaluation of the national currency. The acute decline in passenger traffic and the population’s tourist activity on international routes have affected the Company’s financial results and the possibility for further development of the business.

However, the Company managed to achieve certain results in several areas.

Technical and Technological Cooperation with Foreign Partners

Last year, much work was done on updating the rolling stock, providing international transportation services.

The construction of 200 Russian-Austrian production cars of RIC-200 dimensions was completed. Permission was obtained for their running on the territory of 11 European countries (Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and France).

In 2014, the new RIC carriages’ consumer properties were appreciated by passengers travelling from Moscow Prague, Warsaw and Helsinki, and since January 2015 on the trains, running to Nice and Paris.

In 2014, the project for the purchase of passenger train sets, produced by the Spanish company Patentes Talgo S.L., entered the active implementation phase. The Talgo car trains, equipped with the tilting system and automatic change of wheelset gauge, are scheduled to run on the routes Moscow — Berlin and Moscow — Nizhny Novgorod.

Improvement of the Tariff Policy and Optimisation of International Railway Communication

Acute decline in the passenger traffic and a drop in the proceeds from international passenger transport raised the question of revising the tariff policy in the interstate transportation services, creation of the conditions under which the result of settlement would allow to cover the costs related to the organisation of foreign trains’ running on the territory of the Russian Federation.

During 2014 negotiations were held with the management of the railway administrations and carriers of the CIS and Baltic countries, in which, among other things, the following issues were discussed: the current tariff formation, the system of discounts and allowances, prospects for creation of dynamic pricing and the use of loyalty programmes in the interstate transportation services.

The partners showed keen interest for the new pricing approach, based on the live balance between supply and demand, and the RZD Bonus loyalty programme. In particular, JSC FPC and Latvian Railways (LDZ Cargo and L-Ekspresis) reached an agreement on inclusion of the Latvian trains, running on the routes Moscow — Riga and St. Petersburg — Riga, into the RZD Bonus loyalty programme.

Due to reduction of demand for international railway transportation services the Company had to reduce the amount of railway communication with the CIS and other foreign countries. Thus, out of the 77 pairs of trains of JSC FPC formation, running to the CIS countries only 15 were left; in 2015 in the railway communication with foreign countries out of 13 pairs of trains and 18 direct cars only eight pairs of trains and seven direct cars have been left, with reduced frequency of all international commercial trains down to one train per week.

The overall reduction in the international railway traffic amounted to almost 67%.

Promotion of JSC FPC Transportation Products in the International Markets

One of the highlights of the reporting period at the international level were celebrations to mark the 500th anniversary trip of train No.23/24 Moscow-Berlin-Paris, which were taking place from July 20 — 22, 2014 in Moscow, Minsk, Warsaw, Berlin and Paris, with the participation of foreign railway administrations, national carrier companies, the diplomatic corps and travel agencies.

In October 2014, this event included a round table in the town of Vyborg, where tour operators discussed promotion of tourist products, involving railway services. The event also included demonstration of Leo Tolstoy train-hotel and a presentation of tourist opportunities in Moscow and Helsinki.

In Paris, JSC FPC delegation took part in the meeting of the Steering Group for preparation of the Train to Paris Project. The project is being implemented in the framework of the UN Convention on climate change and aims at attracting the world community to environmental problems and minimising the environmental impact of the railway transport.

Improvement of the Regulatory Framework to Ensure International Passenger, Baggage and Cargo Railway Transportation Services

Acting as the national carrier, JSC FPC is actively involved in updating the regulatory framework, held by international organisations. In the context of the passenger traffic drop this work has become especially urgent.

Starting from Q2 2014, all the international negotiations have included a discussion of tariff issues and the need for transition to a new order of economic responsibility in train appointments.

JSC FPC is actively involved in the work on drafting a new Convention to facilitate railway transportation of passengers and baggage across borders in international passenger train communication. This document, being developed under the auspices of the UNECE ITC, will provide a basis for improvement of passenger comfort by reducing international passenger trains’ transit time through optimising control operations at railway border crossing checkpoints. The draft new Convention, prepared by JSC FPC specialists in cooperation with JSC Russian Railways, was praised by the members of the informal expert group. One of the meetings in 2015 is scheduled to be held on board the train Moscow — Paris.

Expansion of Bilateral Cooperation

In 2014, five cooperation agreements on international rail transportation of passengers, baggage and cargo-luggage (with Czech, Belarusian, Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Tajik partners) were signed. A project of a similar agreement is under consideration in the administration of the Southern Railway (Armenia), the Moldovan and Ukrainian railways.

On November 25, 2014, negotiations with a delegation from Harbin Railway (PRC) were held in JSC FPC office. For the first time in four years of cooperation an understanding was reached with the Chinese party on a number of topical issues, such as expansion of the sales network, acceleration of train No.19/20 Moscow-Beijing on Chinese territory, organisation of the cargo-luggage traffic together with the subsidiary company FPC-Logistics, cooperation in the field of IT. In addition, the Chinese party expressed its readiness to consider the agreement on cooperation between the JSC FPC and the Harbin Railway and to sign it after achieving agreement on all the issues. Setting up of a workgroup is also planned to implement this agreement between the JSC FPC and the Harbin Railway.