The countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are in the early stages of economic restructuring towards a market economy. They are attempting to establish new trading relationships with each other, with the economies of eastern Europe, and with the West. But rapid inflation and collapse of confidence in the rouble have created enormous problems. Trade flows within the CIS have declined dramatically, worsening an already severe economic recession. By early 1992, railway traffic levels had been declining steeply for nearly three years. The railway system was one of the most integrated enterprises in the former Soviet Union. It was a major unifying factor in economic and social activity. The contemporaneous factor in economic and social activity. The contemporaneous incidence of its division of ownership, rapid cost inflation and economic downturn confront its managers and those responsible for rail policy in the republics with a challenge unprecedented in the history of the railway industry. This paper explores the nature of the challenge and some key findings on future directions established in a major survey of the railways of CIS countries (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan) undertaken for the European Bank.
Abstract