Russian Railways to establish new railroad company

MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - The president of railroad monopoly Russian Railways (RZD) said Thursday the company intended to establish a new major railroad transportation company to attract investment.

Vladimir Yakunin said, "Plans for establishing the company are designed to attract outside investors. We believe there will be a huge demand for the shares raising the price."

Yakunin said his proposal to establish a large railroad transportation company with market capitalization of 120 billion rubles (more than $4 billion) had been supported by the government and the Ministry of Transportation but that no dates had been set.

"In the first half of 2006, we will be able to review a draft project and set dates for launching the company," he said.