Unloading of petroleum products in Far East proceeding without restrictions, Russian Railways ready for increase in fuel shipments

VLADIVOSTOK. June 23 (Interfax) - Unloading of petroleum products in the Far East is proceeding without restrictions, and the railways are ready for an increase in fuel shipments, the head of the Far Eastern Railway (a branch of OJSC Russian Railways, RZD) Yevgeny Veide said during the PRO//Movement.East conference in Vladivostok on Tuesday.

"Despite the challenges that there were - and in the first instance these are seasonal challenges, they happen every year due to freezing and due to unloading, including petroleum products - we did not allow a single restriction in loading. Primorye is the main point for unloading petroleum products. Today these restrictions do not exist," Veide said.

At present, one of the Far Eastern oil refineries has suspended operations for preventive maintenance, while the second refinery is operating, he said. There are only two refineries in the Far Eastern Federal District.

"The Far Eastern Railway assesses the prospects and amounts after the plant comes out of technological downtime as operational, and we will not allow any stoppage. And generally speaking, we are ready for the amounts that are being loaded today. We are also ready for an increase in those amounts that will be presented to us for transportation both on the railway and, perhaps, beyond it," Veide said.

The Far Eastern Railway runs through six constituent entities of the Russian Federation: Primorye and Khabarovsk Territories, the Amur and Sakhalin regions, the Jewish Autonomous Region and Yakutia.