On September 26, it became known that "Belarusbank" should issue a loan of 300 million rubles to "Belarusian Railway" by the end of the year.

The money will be given to the railwaymen under the guarantee of the government of the country.

According to the decision of the Council of Ministers, the money received from the loan will be used for the repayment of previous loans by "Belarusian Railways", the payment of leasing (from which new trains were taken. — RS), as well as for the repayment of debts to the state budget.

Money will be given to the railway for three years at 16%.

Interest rates on loans for consumer needs for citizens at "Belarusbank" start at 19%.

The railway urgently needs money.

As the "Zerkalo" portal reports, during the first half of 2022, "Belarusian Railways" suffered losses of almost 82 million rubles.

At the same time, 2021 was still a profitable year for "Belarusian Railways", the company earned "net" more than 48 million.

Not the first loan for 2022

The previous years were also profitable for "Belarusian Railway".

In 2016, for example, she earned "net" more than 3 million dollars.

And in the previous year - about 5 million.

The pandemic year 2020 was a loss for "Belarusian Railways", when international passenger transportation was completely stopped, and domestic and freight transportation were reduced.

As a result, the state company lost about 50 million dollars.

However, already in 2021 there was a sharp increase in profits.

Last but not least, through the increase in transit transportation from China to the countries of the European Union.

At the same time, at the end of 2021, the company lost one of the significant sources of profit - in December, Lithuania stopped the transit of "Belaruskali" fertilizers through its territory, which was carried out by "Belarusian Railways".

Belarusian officials reported on alternative routes, including through Russian ports.

However, there is no specifics about this.

"Belarusian Railways" will publish its report for 2022 no earlier than the spring of 2023, so it is not yet possible to fully assess the company's financial situation.

A loan of 300 million rubles indicates losses.

"Belchigunka" took loans from the state before, but they were much smaller and were taken to pay salaries to employees.

One such loan was reported a day before the start of the war in Ukraine by the thematic Telegram channel "Community of Railwaymen of Belarus".

Then "Belarusian Railway" received interest-free 646 thousand rubles from "Belarusbank".

Dismissal of employees

The wave of politically motivated layoffs at "Belarusian Railway" was reported in the fall of 2021.

According to the media, the lists for dismissals were handed over to the railway management by the special services.

First of all, the participants of the 2020 protests got into them.

At the same time, both rank-and-file employees and railway officials were deprived of their positions.

For example, "Nasha Niva" reported on the dismissal of at least three managers of the Brest branch of the railway.

It has not yet been possible to completely replace the dismissed with new people, as evidenced by the website of "Belarusian Railways" with blanks in front of the positions.

60 trains abroad instead of 160

"Our infrastructure makes it possible to send up to 160 freight trains per day in all external directions," said the head of "Belarusian Railways"

in mid-September .

- Unfortunately, now we send 60 or 70 trains a day specifically to external connections.

But I am sure that sooner or later the situation will normalize."

According to Morozov, from the spring of 2022, the "Belarusian Railway" will work almost entirely for domestic production.

The reason was the war and sanctions.

"When Ukraine was completely shut down and they started imposing sanctions against our economy on a broad front, we are not happy with the results of the year," Morozov admitted.

"In terms of export of our products, we have 60% of last year's level."

According to the head of "Belarusian Railways", after February 24, 2022, Ukraine arrested more than 7,000 railway cars belonging to Belarus, as well as several locomotives.

About 500 Ukrainian wagons remained on Belarusian territory.

The amount of losses for "Belarusian Railways" can amount to about 500 million dollars.

In total, "Belarusian Railways" has about 28,000 freight cars.

About 25% of their total number remains in Ukraine.

Secure communication

with our editors.

HERE