ILC in the February issue of the Russian Railways Partner magazine
The restructuring of logistics routes began back in 2022, and so far this process has not fully settled down – the changing situation in the country and the world adds dynamics to it. Experts and market participants are discussing how to effectively build logistics today.
According to Alexander Yurishchev, Chief Operating Officer of ILC logistics company, the leading countries trading with Russia are China, Turkey and the UAE. According to the company's estimates, the total volume of foreign trade in 2024 still did not show a significant increase compared to 2023 - the first half of 2024 was too difficult. A. Yurishchev agrees with the demand for non-standard approaches, but they had to be sought not only at the stage of direct transportation organization: "It was necessary to come up with new options for interaction with foreign contractors in a very short time. First, it was necessary to adapt to the fact that many of them stopped working with Russian partners due to the threat of sanctions and problems with making payments for goods and services. Secondly, the changed conditions of international settlements have led to additional costs and the involvement of payment agents," the expert draws attention. According to him, there were no significant changes in the structure of transportation by type of transport in 2024 compared to 2023. Using the example of freight transportation from China to the Russian Federation: during the year, the demand for rail transportation was stable, road transport acquired the status of a favorite already in the first half of the year due to problems with abandoning trains from China - both through the Far East and through land railway border crossings. According to A. Yurishchev's observations, the demand for air transportation has decreased somewhat: due to problems in mutual settlements, many carriers have switched to full prepayment, which has become unprofitable for Russian companies. A. Yurishchev is rather optimistic about the development situation. In his opinion, we should expect an increase in sea transportation via Novorossiysk, St. Petersburg, and Iran. Among the routes in the top will be routes through the Far East and direct rail links, but how the situation develops there depends on many factors that will be greatly influenced by the work of all participants in the transportation process: the infrastructure of border terminals, the provision of freight capacity with gondola cars and fittings, as well as the situation with the abandonment of trains on the Russian Railways network.
