Russian Railways, the monopoly railway company, reports a 9.3% decrease in cargo transportation volumes in February compared to February last year, the Center for Countering Disinformation reported.
Points of attention
- Russian Railways reported a 9.3% decrease in cargo transportation volumes in February, indicating an economic downturn for the company.
- The war and sanctions against the Russian Federation have led to significant declines in transportation of essential goods like grain, building materials, ferrous metals, and oil.
- The reduced funding for railway infrastructure development projects due to the ongoing war threatens the long-term growth and stability of Russian Railways.
Russian Railways is approaching collapse
The most significant declines were in the volumes of grain transportation (28.7%), building materials (26%), ferrous metals (13.1%), and oil (4.9%).
After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the introduction of Western sanctions, the Russian Federation found itself cut off from a significant part of its external markets. The decline in rail traffic was a direct consequence of the war.
This indicates a gradual "slump" of the Russian economy and is one of the harbingers of an economic crisis. Over time, the "railway" statistics will inevitably affect the indicators of revenues to the Russian budget.
Previously, the Central Railways also reported that Russian Railways was forced to reduce funding for large-scale railway infrastructure development projects due to the war.
There have also been reports of mass layoffs at one of Russia's key engineering plants, which serves Russian railways.
