On 28 April 2016 the Transport Union of the North-West held its general meeting and took stock of the reporting period 2015–2016. The meeting, held at the Emperor Alexander I Saint Petersburg State Transport University, was attended by representatives of 57 member organisations.
The agenda covered the report on the Union’s work in 2015–2016 and the tasks for 2016–2017; the audit commission’s report on the Union’s financial and economic activity; and approval of the work plan for 2016–2017.
The meeting heard the report of the president of the Union, Vladimir Yakovlevich Khodyrev. In the reporting period the Union worked on raising transport security, improving passenger transport, keeping businesses alive through the downturn, improving road construction and addressing shortages of skilled staff. Over the year the Union’s work included dealings with the authorities on customs policy in the area covered by the North-West Customs Directorate; helping to resolve the critical situation caused by restrictions on the TIR convention in Russia; a proposal to build the Ust-Luga – Kirishi – Tikhvin road across the Leningrad and Novgorod regions as part of the Europe – Western China corridor; and the drafting of amendments to the federal laws on vehicle inspection and on taxis, together with legislative initiatives on the quality of roads.
The Union’s expert groups drew up and substantiated proposals on the development of the Arctic region and the Northern Sea Route, and on the creation of a single customs clearance centre in Saint Petersburg.
Members took an active part in the Neva 2015 international exhibition and conference on shipbuilding, shipping, ports and offshore development; the fifth international forum on transport security; the Taxi 2015 international Eurasian forum; the Saint Petersburg international innovation forum on passenger transport; and the PIAC / Autoprom Russia international conference of the motor industry. The Union also took part in the business weeks of the transport committee and of the committee for transport infrastructure development at the Centre for Import Substitution and Localisation.
The four-party agreement between the governments of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, the Transport Union of the North-West and the Leningrad Federation of Trade Unions made it possible to work out joint approaches to improving the transport sector and to defend the interests of members. Given how well this arrangement works, the Union set itself the task for 2016–2017 of concluding similar agreements in every region of the North-Western Federal District.
Over the reporting period members drafted and sent to the Ministry of Transport, the State Duma, the Transport Union of Russia and other bodies several dozen proposals for legislation and regulations on transport security, freight and passenger carriage, road safety and carriers’ liability insurance. The Union works closely with the Marine Council of Saint Petersburg, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the North-West Strategic Partnership, the leading transport colleges, design and research organisations, the customs and border services, the traffic police and the North-West transport prosecutor’s office. The Union joined the newly created research council on interdisciplinary problems of transport systems at the Saint Petersburg Scientific Centre of the Academy of Sciences.
The Union’s links with the federal government, the Ministry of Transport, the Transport Union of Russia and the State Duma are maintained through its Moscow office, headed by P. F. Tkachenko.
Contributions to the discussion came from A. N. Golovin, chairman of the transport committee of Saint Petersburg; S. M. Zimin, aide to the presidential envoy in the North-Western Federal District; Yu. A. Gatchin, chairman of the standing commission on industry, the economy and property of the Legislative Assembly; V. N. Lobko, president of the Emperor Alexander I Saint Petersburg State Transport University; V. N. Aleksandrov, director general of Metrostroy; O. V. Bely, deputy chairman for research at the Saint Petersburg Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences; A. M. Datsyuk, head of the North-West branch of the Association of International Road Carriers; S. I. Buyanov, director general of the Central Marine Research and Design Institute; and others. Their proposals will be included in the approved work plan for 2016–2017.
B. R. Panfilov, head of the Union’s department for air transport and exhibition activity, reported on the audit of financial and economic activity for 2015–2016. Over the period six new members were admitted and four organisations were expelled for breaching the charter, failing to pay membership fees and withdrawing from the Union’s work. No irregularities were found in the spending of the Union’s funds. The meeting approved the work of the Union and of its presidium in 2015–2016 and adopted a number of decisions aimed at developing the Union further and strengthening its position in the North-Western Federal District.