Russian railways follow the Gazprom model

Overview

When Vladimir Putin first came to power, the railways – a highly important sector of Russia's economy – were almost untouched by reform; in fact, they were even less reformed than Gazprom. A restructuring project was begun which set the railways on a course to the radical transformations currently under way in the electricity sector. But the result now reached after eight years of restructuring is less impressive, more closely resembling the Gazprom model. The state-controlled incumbent...