SOCHI, May 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Railways posted a net profit of 600 million rubles (about $22 million) in the first quarter of 2006 instead of an expected loss of 9 billion rubles (about $330 million), the state-run railroad company said Thursday.
Railway passenger traffic normally generates losses in Russia, whereas cargo traffic is highly profitable and compensates for the shortfall of funds.
"We have lived through the most difficult quarter in the past three years," said Vladimir Yakunin, the company's president. "We worked with freight owners and received a net profit of 600 million rubles as a result."
