MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. Russian Railways expects an increase in freight loading on its network by 1.6% annually in April and by 2.9% in May, Deputy CEO Irina Magnushevskaya told reporters.

The railway operator expects growth of freight loading in the second quarter on an annualized basis, she noted. The freight loading plan is 96 mln metric tons but a slip within 1% is expected, the senior executive said. Actual loading during 27 days of April totals 85.3 mln metric tons. "I think we will have a slip. The slip will not be above 1% from the target. We will have the upside within 1.6% against the last year," she noted.

April figures depend on operations of port infrastructure, plant and a more serious decline in domestic transportation than initially expected, Magnushevskaya said.

"We took more ambitious tasks for May - we will have the dynamics of plus 2.9% against the level of 2025; our target is 97.5 mln tons," she added.