Russia: TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS



Overview: In the post-Soviet era, Russia’s transportation infrastructure has continued the process of deterioration that began in the last years of Soviet governance. The systems also suffer from a Soviet administrative design ill-suited to a market economy: modes of transportation are vertically integrated, placing control of all aspects, from equipment production to station administration, under the same authority. That handicap, together with the long distances covered by roads and railroads, adverse climatic conditions, and the stress of the post-Soviet transition, places Russia in need of massive overhauls in all aspects of its transportation system.



Roads: In 2003 Russia had 920,000 kilometers of roads, of which 359,000 were paved but none of which could be classified as a Western-style trunk highway. Estimates vary on the percentage of Russia’s freight and passengers carried by road, the highest being 60 percent of the freight and 70 percent of the passengers. An estimated 40 percent of rural villages are not connected to a paved road. In 1999 an estimated 43 percent of federal roads (which account for 46,000 kilometers and half of the country’s trucking volume) did not meet minimum quality standards because of broken surfaces, poor marking, and poor lighting. The road crisis is exacerbated by steady increases in vehicle volume. Although in 1999 the government estimated that US$3 billion was needed to upgrade the system to meet international standards, federal financing decreased annually in the late 1990s. The Roads of Russia program, established in 1998, has aimed at large-scale restructuring, including conversion of some federal roads into privatized toll roads. In 2004 the program had laid out road building plans through 2025, with early phases concentrating around Moscow.



Railroads: Railroads also are a vital economic link, particularly important for hauling coal, coke, ferrous metals, ores, chemicals, fertilizers, grain, and timber products. The railroads also account for 38 percent of passenger transport. In 2004 Russia had 86,000 kilometers of rail line, nearly all of which was broad gauge, including 48 percent electrified. An additional 62,000 kilometers of rail line served specific industries. Although the government has recognized the need to restructure this system to keep it competitive with the improving road system, Russia’s railroads have remained a state monopoly. The system is divided into 17 regional railroads, which have a contractual relationship with the Ministry of Railways. Restructuring plans call for the creation of separate state enterprises for constituent services such as repair shops, parts production, and passenger service, as an intermediate step toward eventual privatization. Priority projects are improved telecommunications and traffic control and modernization of rolling stock.



Ports: The breakup of the Soviet Union deprived Russia of 51 of the 92 marine ports to which it had access prior to 1991, necessitating reliance on other former Soviet countries for a large share of its seagoing commerce. Remaining Russian port capacity is not sufficient for the current level of foreign trade. The most important ports are St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea and Magadan, Nakhodka, Vladivostok, and Petropavlovsk on the Pacific Ocean. Two major ports, Murmansk and Arkhangel’sk, are closed by ice part of each year. The Pacific ports are located far from European industrial and population centers. The main Black Sea port is Novorossiysk, where demand far exceeds capacity. Much infrastructure such as port cranes and loading machines is in poor condition and does not meet current international standards. Major deficiencies exist in freight forwarding systems, cargo processing terminals, integration of land and sea transport services, computerization of cargo flow, and cargo processing services. Government programs to improve port capacity have come under particular pressure from the oil industry’s need for expanded port capacity, and that industry largely determines port development policy. A new oil terminal opened at Primorsk near St. Petersburg in 2001. However, port expansion programs have been delayed because of funding problems.



Inland Waterways: Russia has 95,900 kilometers of inland water routes. A system totaling 72,000 kilometers in European Russia links the Baltic, Black, and Caspian seas and the Arctic Ocean. Some 60,400 kilometers of the system have night navigation capability, and 16,900 are man-made navigation routes. The main European waterway is the Volga-Don system, which connects the major river ports of Nizhniy Novgorod, Kazan’, Samara, Saratov, Volgograd, Astrakhan’, and Rostov with the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea and leads northward via canals to link with the Baltic Sea at St. Petersburg. The system links the Don and Volga rivers by the 60-kilometer Volga-Don Canal. Expansion of commerce on inland waterways has been hindered by shallow water and weather conditions. The Volga-Don Canal is closed for several months in winter.



Civil Aviation and Airports: Air travel decreased sharply in the 1990s; in 2001 passenger kilometers were less than 40 percent of the 1990 total. In 2003 an estimated 50 percent of planes had been in service for more than 15 years, as the civil aviation industry’s output dropped to nearly zero in the late 1990s. Safety concerns arose from the aging fleet and the genesis of some 400 small airlines from the previous monopoly Aeroflot company. Despite losing its monopoly, Aeroflot remained the largest carrier in 2004, offering flights to 54 countries from the hub city, Moscow. The number of airports also declined in the early 2000s. Estimates of the total number of operational, hard-surface airports ranged from fewer than 500 to 575. In 2004 some 55 airports had runways longer than 3,000 meters, and 197 had runways between 2,500 and 3,000 meters. Major international airports are located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov, Yekaterinburg, Novorossiysk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, and Magadan.



Pipelines: Because of the vital role of oil and natural gas in the national economy and the need to move those commodities over long distances, pipelines occupy a critical position in the national transportation system. The system includes 46,800 kilometers of trunk pipelines, 395 oil pumping stations, and 868 storage facilities. In 2004 the overall pipeline system included 150,007 kilometers for natural gas, 75,539 kilometers for oil, 13,771 kilometers for refined products, and 122 kilometers for gas condensate. The state-controlled Transneft’ company has monopoly control of that system, although the government has proposed privatization of some parts of the pipeline infrastructure. Transneft’ is divided into several regional trunk-line operating companies. Several major new pipeline projects have been proposed to expedite transport to critical ports such as St. Petersburg, Murmansk, and Novorossiysk, relieving overloaded lines designated for export. Infrastructure maintenance is complicated by permafrost and climatic conditions.

Telecommunications: In the 1990s, Russia’s telephone system underwent a major transition, as more than 1,000 companies gained licenses to provide services. The number of private lines increased sharply during that period, although long waiting periods remained the norm. The government’s goal is to add 50 million fixed lines by 2010. Major improvements in recent years include increased access to digital lines (mainly in urban centers) and major infrastructural improvements. The demand for main line service remains unmet, and service outside urban centers is inadequate, however. In 2003 the ratio of telephone lines to inhabitants, 24.3 per 1,000, was substantially lower than in Eastern Europe. Digital trunk lines now connect St. Petersburg on the Baltic with Khabarovsk in the Far East and Moscow with Novorossiysk on the Black Sea. Some 60 regional capitals offer modern digital systems, but in 2004 an estimated 54,000 rural communities lacked telephone service entirely. Driven by slow installation of conventional lines, cellular phone use has increased dramatically since 2000. Between 2002 and 2003, the number of cellular subscribers doubled to 36 million. Moscow easily leads Russia’s regions in both conventional and cellular phone use. The government has postponed privatization of Svyazinvest, the state holding company that controls most of Russia’s telecommunications industry, including the long-distance monopoly Rostelkom.



Partly because of difficulties with the telecommunications infrastructure, Internet use has grown more slowly in Russia than elsewhere. The scarcity of home computers and high fees are other obstacles. Estimates vary from 6 million to 18 million Internet users; in urban centers, especially Moscow, use has increased dramatically in recent years. Other centers of high use are Irkutsk, Krasnodar, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, and Yekaterinburg. Corporate accounts make up about two-thirds of Internet use.