Deputy Transport Minister: Budget Receipts from International Goods Transportation Could Be Doubled

Russian transport firms earned over USD 1 billion in 2002 from transporting Russian goods abroad. This was announced yesterday at a press conference by First Deputy Transport Minister Anatoly Nasonov. He said that tax receipts from these shipments to local and federal budgets were worth USD 300 million last year.

Nasonov said that the value of the Russian international road freight market was estimated by experts to be worth USD 3-3.2 billion. Consequently, domestic transporters only account for about one third of this figure. The deputy minister believes that Russian companies could take up to 50% of the market for international freight by increasing the quality of their service, which would in turn raise budget receipts by another USD 300 million. There are around 2,500 companies in Russia engaged in international goods transportation, employing over 125,000 people.