Russian Railways plans to reduce management personnel and limit the hiring of new employees, a company representative said on October 18, 2025. CEO Oleg Belozerov instructed deputies and heads of structural divisions to prepare proposals by November 1 on staff reduction, changes in structure and work schedule.
According to a Russian Railways representative, the measures are aimed at improving efficiency in the face of declining workloads and a difficult economic situation. In August, employees of the central office and road administrations already took two days of unpaid leave per month. Now a full-fledged reduction in the number of managers is planned.
Russian Railways' transportation has been declining in recent years: by 3.9% in 2022, 0.2% in 2023, and 4.1% in 2024. For January–September 2025, freight traffic decreased by 6.7% year-on-year. Reductions affected almost all categories of goods: coal — by 2.3%, coke — by 16.2%, oil and petroleum products — by 5.3%, cement — by 13.8%, building materials — by 13.1%, and grain — by a record 26.6%.
To reduce costs, Russian Railways reduced its investment program by almost 40%, suspending major construction projects, including the expansion of the BAM and Trans-Siberian railways for the transportation of raw materials to China. The total investment volume decreased from 1.3 trillion rubles to 890 billion, then by another 32.5 billion rubles. The reduction affected the renewal of railway tracks and the purchase of locomotives and wagons. The company's net profit in 2024 fell ninefold — to 13.9 billion rubles, and in the first half of 2025 — 23 times, to 2.7 billion rubles.
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