INFRASTRUCTURE
Yaroslavl is one of the major transportation depots of European Russia. The transportation system of the Yaroslavl Region is of paramount importance both domestically and internationally, as it manages large amounts of railway, automobile, water, air and pipeline traffic and provides opportunities for mixed-shipping operations.
Railways
Railways play the key role in shipping goods and passengers inside the Yaroslavl Region and in maintaining transport communication with other areas of Russia. The northern branch-line of the Trans-Siberian Railway featuring a railway bridge across the Volga River, leading towards Arkhanghelsk, Vorkuta, the Northern Urals and Siberia, lies across the territory of the Yaroslavl Region. The route miles of the local railway network total more than 650 km (circa 404 miles). The annual turnover of goods is over 17,000,000 tons.
The local railway network provides both internal and transit transport communication between Central Russia and the northern, north-eastern and eastern regions of this country. The main railway junctions are Yaroslavl, Danilov and Rybinsk. Yaroslavl also has a number of railway service facilities: Electric Locomotive-Repair Plant, Car-Repair Plant and Bridge Truss Building Plant.
Highways
The М8 Federal Route (Moscow-Kholmogory) with a Yaroslavl-Kostroma side route from is the backbone of the local highway system providing reliable communication between Central and Northern Russia. The Yaroslavl Region maintains road-transport communication with all the neighbouring regions. All the near-boundary districts of the Yaroslavl Region are connected by motor-transport roads.
The total length of roads for common use in the Yaroslavl Region is about 8,000 km (circa 4970 miles). The Region has a large stock of cars working belonging to companies of different ownership patterns. The local motor transport ships about 11,000,000 tons of goods annually. The year 2004 witnessed a major reconstruction of Yaroslavl Bus Station completed while in 2006 a new highway bridge across the Volga River was launched.
Water Transport
The backbone of the Yaroslavl Region's navigable network is the Volga River, the most important water-way of the unified deep-water water-transport system functioning in European Russia. Navigation is also carried out along the lower reaches of the small rivers flowing into the Volga and the Rybinsk Reservoir. The total length of the internal water-way network exceeds 800 km (circa 500 miles).
Cargo can pass through the Baltic Sea by river and canal to the Rybinsk inland sea and then via the Volga to Yaroslavl. By using the Volga-Don River Canal System cargo can travel south to the Black Sea and to the Mediterranean.
The main ports are Yaroslavl, Rybinsk and Uglich, featuring up-to-date handling machinery providing complete mechanization of all handling processes. Passenger traffic is carried out by means of Meteor and Raketa Hydrofoil Craft and Moskva-type high-speed boats. The total annual volume of commodities shipped by the local water transport is over 5,000,000 tons. The navigation period lasts 200-220 days a year.
Air Transport
Both domestic passenger and international cargo airlines function in the Yaroslavl Region. There is a possibility of integration into European air corridors, specifically into the Helsinki - St. Petersburg - Moscow air corridor allowing access to Northern Russia, Siberia and the Far East.
Tunoshna Airport OJSC is registered by Russian Federal Service of Air Transport and has all the hardware, equipment, facilities and trained personnel necessary to operate the following types of aircraft: AN-124, IL-62, IL-76, ТU-154, АN-12, YaK-42 and lower. In order to provide passenger and cargo traffic for the Yaroslavl Region and the neighbouring regions the airport is now capable of dispatching as many as 70 passengers per hour, receiving 15-17 aircraft daily as well as dispatching and receiving 150 tons of various international freights.
Tunoshna Airport is capable of relieving the Moscow airports and arranging air transportation of commodities to and from the four neighbouring areas: the Vologda, the Kostroma, the Ivanovo and the Tver Regions. The airport features a State Border Commodity Control Post and an appropriate passenger facility was launched in 2006. The international status of Tunoshna Airport allows it to participate in developing international tourism.
Yaroslavl Aviation OJSC has a stock of ME-2 and ME-8 helicopters and AN-2 planes as well as all the ground service facilities necessary to provide air traffic in compliance with the requirements of the State Civil Aviation Service and the RF Transport Ministry. This airline services natural gas field workings and gas pipelines in the north of Russia.
Telecommunications
All kinds of telephone communications, including analog, digital and mobile, radio, television and computer networks, function in the Yaroslavl Region. The Regional Programme of "Development of Telecommunication Networks in Rural Areas: Installation of Telephones, Data Communication, Announcement" is under way. As a result, the rural population as well as the social establishments of the Municipal Districts is provided with up-to-date telecommunication services with a total coverage area of 60% of the Yaroslavl Region. The new network has already been coupled with the existing networks. At present a regional road industry command-and-control system is being organized on the basis of GSM cellular communications as well as a road accidents announcement system.
Developed financial infrastructure
More than 70 banks and affiliates, including 9 regional institutions, are registered and function in the Yaroslavl Region.
There are also a number of out-of-town banks and lending agencies, such as affiliates of Severny Bank of RF Sberbank, Bank of Moscow, Alfabank, Severgazbank to name just a few.
There are 7 regional insurance companies and 49 affiliates of some leading Russian insurance companies, such as ASKO Medical Insurance Ltd., TEST-JASO CJSC, Arsenal Medical Insurance OJSC, Ecofund Insurance CJSC, Rosgosstrakh-Centre Ltd., Military Insurance OJSC, Spasskiye Vorota Insurance CJSC, Soglasiye Insurance Ltd., RESO-Guarantee Insurance OJSC and a number of others.
There are more than 100 evaluative organizations, about 40 companies providing auditing and consulting services, more than 20 professional stock market participants and over 40 leasing companies in the Yaroslavl Region.