Changes also continued in the strategic management system at Russian Railways. Approved by the Board of Directors of the company at the end of December 2013, the strategy of its development until 2030 determined the course for the formation of a vertically integrated transport and logistics holding and building a management system for five key business blocks. Due to the diversification of activities, a synergistic effect is formed, bringing the financial result of the holding to a much higher level compared to the model of an exclusively infrastructure company. In early February 2014 The Board of Directors of JSC “Russian Railways” approved the control parameters of the target state of the holding for the period up to 2030 in general and for the main business blocks.

It should be recalled that in 2014 the work was carried out in conditions of non-indexed tariffs, insufficient compensation for unprofitable passenger traffic, changes in the structure of cargo and passenger flows. However, the company has once again proved its ability to fulfill the tasks it faces.

Concrete steps have been taken to form a single window system: a decision has been made to concentrate a number of functions of cargo and commercial work at the central and regional levels in the contour of the transport and logistics business block. A vertical for passenger transportation management has been created and is already functioning.

Today, the system as a whole is clearly visible. Through the business blocks “Transport and Logistics” and “Passenger transportation”, the needs of customers are transformed into the production tasks of the holding, and they, in turn, are solved by the business block “Railway transportation and infrastructure”.

Interregional and regional coordination councils under the chairmanship of railway chiefs play a significant role in realizing the logistics potential of the holding. In close cooperation with regional authorities and transport market participants, issues of meeting the demand for rail transportation, attracting additional volumes of cargo are being resolved, proposals for the provision of new transport products are being formed.

The key activity of the business blocks “Transport and Logistics” and “Railway transportation and infrastructure” should be the expansion of the portfolio of services provided, which are fixed by the timetable and the train formation plan as key consolidating documents.

The holding already offers customers not just transportation, but also door-to-door cargo delivery, organization of transportation in international traffic involving several modes of transport.

In order to obtain the maximum synergetic effect, the company is forming an organizational vertical for managing customer orientation and business development for all types of holding activities with the creation of a Business Development and Customer Orientation Department in the corporate center. Relying on the powers of this department and the processes of inter-block coordination established by it, it is supposed to manage the value chain for the client, the quality of internal and external services and the mutually coordinated development of business blocks.

Working in the new evaluation system, all business blocks and business units, fulfilling their specific indicators, are primarily obliged to ensure access to the general parameters of development and efficiency improvement. This is what interaction and coordination in the holding should be based on.