The launch of traffic on the railway part of the Crimean Bridge, which will take place this year, will not help reduce food prices in the republic.
Former Minister of Transport of Crimea Anatoly Tsurkin writes about this in his blog, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the specialist, food products will not travel to Crimea by rail, and what can be sent in wagons will not become cheaper due to the owners of the rolling stock.
“Alas, this will not lead to a reduction in the cost of goods on store shelves. Today, basically the entire rolling stock is in private hands, and private owners of railway rolling stock are very reluctant to reduce prices for their services. There is an opinion that rail transportation today is one of the cheapest types of cargo delivery. I agree with this partly: in the transportation of raw materials, inert materials and other general cargo, railways are cheaper, but no one will transport dairy, meat, and prefabricated products in wagons. Alas, this is already an established fact,” notes the ex-minister.
He is convinced that most consumers will not feel the opening of the railway service in their pockets.
“In what areas will the effect be? The main thing is building materials, metal, cement, timber, and other raw materials. It will become cheaper to deliver these categories of cargo. But whether Crimeans will receive this logistics discount is not a fact. Since the customers of these cargo flows are shipping companies from the mainland,” Tsurkin said.