19 june 2012

Prospects for joint operation

From May 31 to June 1, 2012 in Sochi, the VII International Rail Business Forum «Strategic Partnership 1520» took place, a key theme of which was the growth formula of the «1520 space» in the system of economic and trade unions. The forum was attended by the Director General of RPM Evgeny Yakovlev, First Deputy Director General for Finance Maxim Naumchenko.

At the opening ceremony the president of Russian Railways OJSC Vladimir Yakunin gave participants a welcome address from the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. The appeal says that the Forum «Strategic Partnership 1520» is honored as a popular and time-tested platform, where industry issues are discussed at a professional level, and the prospects for further collaboration are defined. The effectiveness of this interaction influences greatly the development of national economies.

Railway system «1520 space» is actually a link between the major centers of the global economy — the EU and the Asia-Pacific region, said Vladimir Yakunin during the opening of the forum. The overall objective, he said, is the need to build a coherent system of relations with partners from the CIS, Asia-Pacific region and Europe on key issues of rail service.

During the Forum, a round table discussion on the localization of production in Russia of railway equipment and infrastructure elements of foreign suppliers took place. It was attended by Senior Vice-President of Russian Railways OJSC, President of NP OPZhT Valentin Gapanovich, Director General of RPM Group, the chairman of the committee for the coordination of producers of infrastructure components and track equipment Evgeny Yakovlev, the heads of Russian Railways structures and engineering companies.

The roundtable participants spoke of the need for joint research and production assets of the producers of 1520 and 1435 space to create a new generation of the rolling stock, that engineering centers should become the basis for effective adaptation of experience and technology in the process of localization of production in Russia.

Director General of RPM Group Evgeny Yakovlev said that on such forums the problems of track engineering development are rarely discussed. «Perhaps the reason is that we lack a foreign strategic partner whose technology we would actively master. But the way in which we develop is different from others. Foreign companies do not act as our strategic partners. But we are actively cooperating with them: adopt their experience and technology, and eventually begin to make machines that are not inferior to their products. In particular, we have recently introduced three new machines to Russian Railways OJSC — ЩОМ-1200М, ПМА-1М and РПБ-01. These are machines, which will soon replace those assembled in cooperation. Thus, without pathos and unnecessary noise the Russian Railways structure forms a solely Russian serious engineering concern — RPM Group.»

Summing up the work of the Forum, the President of Russian Railways OJSC Vladimir Yakunin during the closing ceremony event stressed that such meetings are the first step towards institutional breakthrough in the relationship of the railway community, partners among shippers and manufacturers, as well as international partners, including the representatives of the EU authorities.