Russian Railways plans to cut spending by 20% in 2026

MOSCOW, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The board of directors of state-owned Russian Railways has approved spending for 2026 at 713.6 billion roubles ($9.15 billion), down from 890.9 billion roubles this year, the company said on Monday.

Russia's government is discussing different ways to prop up the country's biggest commercial employer, which has built up a 4 trillion rouble ($50.8 billion) debt pile amid falling revenues caused by a sharp slowdown in Russia's war economy.

Of the approved spending, 531.4 billion roubles will be spent on maintaining infrastructure and safety, another 161.7 billion roubles will be aimed at purchasing railcars and 120 billion roubles - on the construction of high-speed rail line between Moscow and St Petersburg, Russian Railways said in a statement.

Andrei Kostin, CEO of Russian Railways' biggest creditor and Russia's second-largest bank VTB, told Reuters in an interview that maintaining investments at a high level was among the most important topics in discussions about debt restructuring.

Russian Railways' 2025 spending, which is crucial for the company's suppliers, is still at a very low level compared to the record of the previous year, when it reached 1.5 trillion roubles.

($1 = 77.9955 roubles)

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)