Posted on 11/29/2025 8:23:29 AM PST by Apparatchik
MOSCOW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Russia's government is discussing different ways to prop up Russian Railways, the country's biggest commercial employer, which has built up a 4 trillion rouble ($50.8 billion) debt pile, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
State-owned Russian Railways, which employs about 700,000 people, has suffered a fall in revenues amid a sharp slowdown in Russia's war economy while debt costs have soared, driven by the highest interest rates in two decades.
According to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, Moscow has been discussing ways of helping the railways deal with its debt, mostly owed to state banks.
Those include raising prices for cargo, raising subsidies, cutting taxes or even deploying money from the National Wealth Fund, the sources said. Raising prices for railway cargo would hit Russian exporters of bulk commodities such as coal, metals, oil products, grain and chemicals which are themselves suffering from the economic slowdown and high interest rates.
Russian officials met to discuss the situation in late November and plan to meet again in December, one of the sources said. Russian Railways, the Russian government and the Transport Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
BTW, 700,000 employees is more than Amazon and Target employ in the U.S. COMBINED.
Seems to me they should start with accountants who figure out just what the break-even price should be for all categories of passenger and freight.
Either that, or just look at how we're propping up Amtrak over here.
We’ve got a $39 trillion debt and you’re having wet dreams about a Russian railway going under?
From AI:
Russian Railways is fully owned by the Russian Federation, with the Government of the Russian Federation exercising shareholder powers on behalf of the state.
It is a state-owned, vertically integrated railway company, and the Russian Government holds 100% of its shares.
So this is not private shareholders looking for a bailout.
From AI:
Amtrak is a federally owned corporation, with the United States government holding ultimate ownership and control.
It was created by Congress through the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 and incorporated in 1971 as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, operating under the name Amtrak.
The federal government owns all of Amtrak’s preferred stock, which grants it significant influence over strategic decisions, including the appointment of the Board of Directors, which is subject to Senate confirmation.
I keep telling you guys that think money will end Russia. Money is created AT WHIM by central banks like the Federal Reserve or the People’s Bank of China or the Russian Central Bank. If your government has a desperate need for money, like our annual $2T deficit, you borrow it, and often you borrow it from your central bank.
This is a meaningless article.
Big totalitarian, tyrannical gov’t is the road to serfdom.
Russia and other examples of this truth abound.
Trusting in man and his gov’t fails.
Trusting in the Lord brings independence from coercive gov’t and brings individual freedom, success, and wealth.
1800’s America is one of the few examples of a free society in the whole sad history of man’s oppression of man.
Lol...good point.
which has built up a 4 trillion rouble ($50.8 billion) debt pile,
We’ve got a $39 trillion debt and you’re having wet dreams about a Russian railway going under?
Ronald Maximus Reagan knew that for OTHER countries, it was a “Guns or Butter” situation... alas Putin does not.
Fair point—so let us reframe this issue in a positive way.
We and Russia need to have a new race to replace the old Space Race.
Who can pile up the biggest debt in their railroad system and be the first to reach one trillion dollars?
America can win this!
Lol.
Printing money?
Russians and their ‘cursed capacity for suffering’.
Who can pile up the biggest debt in their railroad system and be the first to reach one trillion dollars?
America can win this!
California will lead the way !!!
Did you read his next article?
Putin says Russian army has surrounded Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk Reuters, by Andrew Osborn and Gleb Stolyarov, 27 November 2025.
California High Speed Rail according to CA HSR source:
State of California Debt Clock Moving quickly past $617 BILLION in state debt.
This could be responded to with "whataboutism," as that fine graphics from a Kansas-based website found via Tumblr argued. I tend to consider what my financial situation is before I think about somebody on another continent. But, what the heck?
After all, we're talking about the revelations of "two people who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter...."
Maybe this sort of thing is why this war is allowed to drag on.
Let the paper tiger become the tissue paper kitty cat.
Loose all your tanks, then lose your ships, then lose some planes, waste all your money, kill off all of your productive young men, destroy your economy, FOR WHAT?
The Soviet Union was POWERFUL.
Even Russia alone was POWERFUL.
Now Russia has become Somalia.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.