Tomorrow, the Ministry of Transport will hold a meeting to consider the feasibility of amending the Charter of Railway Transport (18-FZ) regarding the possibility of concluding "carry or pay" contracts.
What is known from the draft document:
The term of the contract is at least one year.
An item is a fixed volume of goods that the sender undertakes to present for transportation and pay for, even if it actually sends less (exceptions are the carrier's fault or force majeure).
The carrier's liability in case he has not accepted the cargo is a penalty in the amount of the total amount of payments for transportation of the agreed volumes.
In congested sections of the network, the government will be able to determine for which cargoes this principle will apply.
In September, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Federal Antimonopoly Service and other federal agencies with the participation of Russian Railways should submit proposals to the government on the organization of railway transportation on the principle of "carry or pay".
In the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAPU) Already against it:
Ultimately, there is a risk of limiting or losing access to infrastructure for shippers who, for one reason or another, will not switch to long-term "carry or pay" contracts.
In addition, the RAPU fears that manufacturers will not be able to receive full compensation for freight charges if the goods are not accepted for transportation. This payment is provided in the form of a penalty, which can be reduced in court when considering the shipper's dispute with Russian Railways.
