The board of directors of state-owned Russian Railways has approved spending for 2026 at 713.6 billion rubles ($9.15 billion), down from 890.9 billion rubles this year, the company said on Monday.
The Russian government is considering various ways to support the country’s largest commercial employer, which has accumulated 4 trillion rubles ($50.8 billion) in debt amid a sharp slowdown in Russia’s military economy and falling revenues.
Of the approved spending, 531.4 billion rubles will be allocated to infrastructure maintenance and security, another 161.7 billion rubles to purchasing rail cars, and 120 billion rubles to building a high-speed railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russian Railways said in a statement.
Andrei Kostin, CEO of Russian Railways’ largest lender and Russia’s second-largest bank, VTB, told Reuters in an interview that maintaining a high level of investment was one of the most critical topics in discussions about debt restructuring.
Russian Railways’ 2025 spending, which is essential to the company’s suppliers, is still well below last year’s record of 1.5 trillion rubles.
