BERLIN, November 22 (Sputnik) — Major Russian rail company Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin on Saturday has confirmed plans to build a railway section bypassing Ukraine.
“In the railways development strategy this bypassing plan always existed. The railroad now goes through the territory of another country, uneasy section, 26 kilometers [16 miles]. In general, this situation is planned [the new project] and as soon as we get financing, we will be realizing this project,” Yakunin told RIA Novosti.
Yakunin stated that the railroad in question is the Prokhorovka-Chertkovo-Bataysk.
“We have just begun planning, it is difficult to say how much financing would be required, but this is a significant amount,” he said.
Yakunin has arrived in Berlin, where he is attending an international conference organized by the Paris-based Institute of Democracy and Cooperation. Several Russian, German, and French politicians, businessmen and diplomats are participating in the conference dedicated to improving the relations between Russia and the European Union.
Russian Railways is the second-largest rail network in the world with 85,200 kilometers (52,941 miles) of track, with more than half of it electrified. The company carries over 0.95 billion passengers and 1.2 billion tons of freight annually across 11 time zones. The state-owned joint-stock company is also one of Russia’s most profitable companies.
