Is it a kind of the sanctions’ effect?
Originally appeared at TASS
German Initiative consortium may participate in financing of Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway line together with China, President of Siemens in Russia and Central Asia Dietrich Moeller told TASS on Wednesday.
“We’re aware of the fact that under an agreement with China some certain financing has been announced but this is not enough for financing the whole line, rolling stock, that’s why we consider financing of some certain part – for example, equipment, rolling stock,” he said.
Moeller said that on Tuesday at the “Russia Calling!” investment forum Russian President Vladimir Putin said that decisions of financing the project may influence Chinese investors’ choice of partners. “President said that economic parameters and financing are the key points in such a project,” he said.
Moeller added that Siemens together with Sinara is ready to offer rolling stock and also is interested in automatics, signaling arrangement and electric power supply to the high-speed line. He said the company is ready to offer “next generation of Sapsans”, which could be developed and manufactured at Ural Locomotives (Siemens-Sinara JV).
President of Siemens in Russia and Central Asia also did not rule out the possibility of a trilateral cooperation when commenting information that Sinara Group and Chinese CRCC are base enterprises for developing trains for Moscow-Kazan railway line now. “We’re not in such negotiations yet but I think we could consider all possible options,” he said.
Currently, Sinara cooperates with Siemens at a joint venture Ural Locomotives, which manufactures Lastochka high-speed trains.
The total cost of Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway line is estimated at 1.068 trillion rubles ($16.9 bln).
The Moscow-Kazan High Speed Railway’s total length will stand at around 770 kilometers. Trains may go at a speed of 350-400 kilometers per hour, and the time en route between the two cities could be 3-3.5 hours against the current 14 hours.
The Moscow-Kazan railroad may later be extended to China, connecting the two countries across Kazakhstan. According to the Russian Railways, the length of Moscow-Beijing railroad will be 7769 km, travel time – 32.8 hours (four times faster compared to current 130.4 hours). The average annual passenger traffic is estimated at 195 mln people.