Thursday, December 27 2018 15:05

ArmInfo.On the part of the Investigation Committee of Armenia, there are constant injections of unfinished information regarding the inspection process at South  Caucasus Railway CJSC. This is stated in the statement of the SCR,  received by ArmInfo.

According to the source, from the point of view of exercising the  powers and functions of the investigating authorities, the purpose of  these stuffing is not entirely clear. "They only form a negative  emotional background in the society of Armenia, they cannot solve  other problems in principle. These publications allow us to argue  about the biasedness of the investigating authorities, and in general  the process does not contribute to efficient interaction, "the  statement reads.

At the same time, the company recognizes the possibility of any  issues to its work. "But such principles of conducting the  investigation are incorrect and become the reason for biased  assessments of the work of the SCR"," the statement reads.

The reason for the start of inspections in August of the current  year, as the company clarifies, was allegedly the non-payment of  taxes by the company in the amount of $ 20,000, when at that time the  advance payment on tax deductions from SCR was about $ 1 million.

"In general, over the 10 years of the work of the SCR, the total time  of inspections by the tax authorities in the company was 3 years. By  the end of 2018, the amount of taxes paid to the state budget of the  republic will exceed 4 billion drams, while in 2008 they amounted to  about 1.6 billion drams. That is, over 10 years, the annual  contributions of the SCR to the state treasury increased by more than  2.5 times.

Various commentators, assessing the results of the company's  activities for 10 years, do not even bother to get acquainted with  the resolution of the Government of Armenia No. 1497-H of October  2006. According to the document, as of 2006, the volume of lost  investments by the railway amounted to $ 250 million.

At the same time, over the 10 years of SCR activity, the number of  transport events (security status indicator) on the railway has  decreased by 6 times, the failures of technical means of power supply  - by 4 times, the failures of technical means of railway automation -  by 10 times. The average train speed increased from 25 km / h to 60  km / h (in places and up to 100 km / h), 8 large station complexes  were modernized, labor productivity increased by 46%, average wages  increased by more than 75%, technologies were introduced previously  not used in Armenia. In particular, it is the repair of diesel  locomotives, electric locomotives and electric trains according to  the Russian Railways standards.

The complex of these measures led to a multiple decrease in emergency  events. So, if in the first year of the SCR operation, in 2008, 151  gatherings of organized trains (including 4 passenger trains) were  recorded on the railway, then in 2017 - 1 case, and that is not the  fault of the SCR employees.

Work is also underway to upgrade rolling stock. In 2018, the company  purchased two new electric trains (the first one is already running  between Yerevan and Gyumri, the second one will come into operation  at the beginning of 2019), 40 new gondola cars were purchased - one  of the most popular types of cars on the Armenian railways.

Our focus is not only on production processes, but also on social  programs. About $ 700 thousand was spent for these purposes for 10  years. The annual fund of social support for the staff of the team is  20 million drams.

Based on the principles of corporate social responsibility, the  company retains its staff, while according to the aforementioned  government decree of 2006, the number of employees of the railway by  2011 should have been significantly less.

Evaluating the work of the SCR in a difficult 2018, I can say that we  are closing the year successfully. All production figures are higher  than planned. Consideration is given to awarding a collective  according to the results of work for the year, "the statement says.   To note, on December 25, the Investigation Committee of Armenia  announced about checks of the effectiveness of the investments of  South Caucasus Railway CJSC (SCR) in the amount of $ 226.8 million.   Inspections are carried out in the framework of a criminal case  investigated by the head office for the investigation of particularly  important cases of the IC, in order to clarify all the circumstances  of abuses recorded in CJSC South Caucasus Railway (SCR), identify the  circle of persons involved and identify their actions. The subject of  the investigation is the ten-year activity of the SCR; the  effectiveness and legitimacy of investments worth 110 billion drams  is being checked.  To recall, the CJSC South Caucasus Railway is a  100% subsidiary of Russian Railways OJSC and carries out concession  management of Armenian railways. The railway infrastructure of  Armenia was transferred to the concession management of CJSC SCR  according to the concession agreement signed on February 13, 2008.  The term of concession management is 30 years with the right to  prolong for another 10 years.