OREANDA-NEWS. November 11, 2013. Russian Railways' President Vladimir Yakunin held a conference call, during which he summed up the operational performance of Russia's rail network during January-October 2013.

"In October 2013, the targets for planned tasks with regard to most of the major quality indicators in our operational work were met," said Yakunin.

According to the Company President however, the current macroeconomic situation seriously complicates the Company's work. According to the latest figures, Russia's GDP rose by just 0.1% in the first three quarters of the year, while industrial production in the same period increased by only 1.3%.

Under these circumstances, tariff freight turnover in January-October 2013 decreased by 2.2 % compared to the same period last year, while freight turnover of empty wagon runs rose by 8.7 %.

Average daily loading in October 2013 was 3,417,000 tons, which is 4.7 % lower than during October 2012 and down 2% on September 2013. The 10 months of 2013 saw daily loading volumes fall by 3.2 % compared to the same period last year.

"All of our actions and measures must be thought through as far as possible and based on a proper understanding of the current situation. I would ask all of you to maximise your efforts to improve the quality of the transportation process, as well as to work closely with shippers and ports," said Vladimir Yakunin.