On 1^st of August, a meeting was held in Atameken on questions of pricing for services for the carriage of goods by rail. Deputy Chairman of the Board of NCE RK "Atameken" Eldos Ramazanov opened the meeting and reported on the importance of the issues on the agenda of Kazakhstani entrepreneurs.

"First, these are the proposals of Samruk-Kazyna and KTZH about the gradual transition to market pricing for freight transportation services by rail, and the second is to introduce maximum and minimum tariff levels for regulated services of backbone railway networks in the Draft Law on Natural Monopolies ", - said Eldos Ramazanov.

He also noted that as part of the work on introduction of amendments to some legislative acts on competition, in November 2016 on the site of the National Chamber with the participation of interested business communities, the proposals of the KTZH to remove from the state price regulation the services for the carriage of goods by rail were considered . As a result of the meeting, KTZH and the business community did not come to a unified position, having decided to abolish price regulation only for wagon rental services.

In turn, Nurlan Rakhmetov, Managing Director on Interaction with the Government of JSC NWF Samruk-Kazyna noted that all the innovations introduced are aimed at increasing the attractiveness of the Fund when entering the IPO. At present, Samruk-Kazyna is working to increase the investment attractiveness of the group of companies of NC JSC “Kazakhstan Temir Zholy” by transitioning to market pricing for rail freight transportation services through deregulation of container transportation services, piggyback shipments, Covered and isothermal wagons, as well as for the transportation of empty containers, covered, insulated wagons and fitting platforms.

"Analysis of the transportation of cargoes KTZH shows a decrease and almost complete absence in container transportations of containerized freight by rail. The share of container transportations in the total volume of shipments is less than 1%, in covered wagons 5%, a similar situation in isothermal wagons. In the observed conditions for the transition to road transport, equal approaches to pricing are needed. Partial deregulation of tariffs for railway container transportation is a half-measure and does not allow to effectively realize the transport potential of Kazakhstan", - said Vladimir Petrov, Vice-President for Integration Planning and Informatization of JSC “KTZH-Cargo Transportation”.

In the course of the discussion of this issue, the agitating moments were voiced, for example, Almaty businessmen, asked the question: "Is it possible to reduce tariffs and improve the quality of services without the abolition of state regulation? In the person of the state, we see protection, we feel control over pricing".

"The whole issue is that we must finally move on to some kind of market regulatory mechanisms. (...) We are trying not to deregulate the entire railway in the price sense. But only some of the parts that we believe have a direct relationship to the competitive environment. Motor transport is a direct competitor for the transport of goods in containers by rail. We have competitors, and we want to form a price in a market environment. The state will regulate the OLS for all other transportations and for transportation as a whole until 2020. We offer only a part of it to enter the market, commented Sholpan Omarbekova, Vice-President for Economics and Finance of JSC “KTZH-Cargo Transportation”.

Summing up the discussion of the issue of deregulation, Eldos Ramazanov instructed to collect grounded positions from the business community within ten days.

On the second issue of the agenda, proposals on the introduction of tariff ceiling levels were announced by JSC "NC" KTZh" and were considered earlier by the Working Group under the Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies and Competition Protection of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan on development of a new Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Natural Monopolies".

Now this issue was discussed with the business community.

 "For the implementation of this initiative, the norms of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, where railway organizations are given the right to make decisions on changing the level of tariffs within the limits (price limits) established or agreed by the authorized bodies, and in accordance with the methodology approved by the authorized bodies of states Members of the EAEU", - noted Sholpan Omarbekova.

This measure is aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the railway transport of the EAEU member states, creating favorable conditions for the carriage of goods by rail, attracting new freight flows, and stimulating the introduction of new equipment and technologies.

At the same time, representatives of consignors noted that in order to implement the proposed norm it is necessary to provide in the bylaws conditions for raising and lowering tariffs, as well as their limits. In addition, the meeting participants had questions regarding the extension of price limits for specific directions of transportation and guaranteed volumes.

"The issue is serious, business opinions are not clear and for the adoption of a unified decision on the 2nd item of the agenda I ask the Regional Chambers within a week to consolidate the business positions and send them to the National Parliament. Also, I ask you once again to notify all interested persons, publish the materials of the meeting on the official portal of Atameken, - summed up Eldos Ramazanov.

DEREGULATION OF CARGO TRANSPORTATION IN CONTAINERS BY COUNTERLIGHTS DISPATCHES AND APPLICATION OF OTHER PRICE LIMITS PLATFORMS (MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM LEVELS) OF TARIFFS FOR REGULATED SERVICES OF THE MAIN RAILWAY NETWORK