Addressing the meeting, Mr Ivanov advocated the development of the railway sector's competitive environment and said this was a basic incentive for modernising economic sectors, including the railway sector.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the Government had approved a plan for implementing the railway transport organisational reform in 2006, and that the reform's current phase aimed to change the correlation between Russian Railways rolling stock and that of operator companies.
Mr Ivanov said the reform had transferred a considerable part of Russian Railways rolling stock to corporate subsidiaries which lacked carrier status but which were providing rolling stock. "This hinders expanded competition in the railway freight traffic market," the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Moreover, an imperfect legal framework hinders the influx of private investment and stifles competition in this market, Mr Ivanov said.