“Agrarians believe that the new increase in tariffs will push shippers away again and reduce Ukrzaliznytsia’s income.”, — write: www.unian.ua
Agrarians believe that the new increase in tariffs will push shippers away again and reduce Ukrzaliznytsia’s income.
Photo by UNIANThe All-Ukrainian Agrarian Forum (VAF), which unites leading specialized associations, appealed to Prime Minister Yulia Svyridenko with a request to stop the planned increase in freight tariffs of “Ukrzaliznytsia” in 2026. LB.UA writes about it.
According to the appeal, UZ plans to index tariffs by 27% starting January 1, 2026, and by an additional 11% six months later. According to agricultural producers, such a decision is unfair, can deepen the logistics crisis and reduce the competitiveness of Ukrainian exports.
Associations say that the previous sharp increase in tariffs in 2022 has led to a significant flow of goods from railways to road transport. The share of road transport has increased to 50% and even after the unblocking of the ports is maintained at the level of 34-39% – this is 10-15% higher than before the tariff increase.
Agrarians emphasize that passenger transportation creates a deficit of more than UAH 18 billion every year, and this financing model is flawed. They refer to international practice, where passenger railways are separately financed from the budget: for example, in the USA, Amtrak received more than $2 billion in subsidies in 2023, and in the EU, the PSO system works – state compensation for unprofitable routes.
According to VAF, the new increase in tariffs will push shippers away again and reduce Ukrzaliznytsia’s income. The appeal states that the company still uses a non-market approach, when the cost of transportation depends not on the cost price, but on the type of product, which leads to the subsidization of certain industries and the creation of planned unprofitable areas, such as coal or building materials.
The signatories of the appeal emphasized that “the decisions are unfair, will intensify the logistics crisis, reduce the competitiveness of Ukrainian exports, will deal a blow to the country’s economy and will actually continue the practice when the state company is forced to subsidize the business of certain oligarchic groups at the expense of taxpayers and the rest of Ukrainian business.”
Associations offer the government:
- suspend tariff increases for 2026 and introduce a transparent mechanism for tariff formation;
- implement the European PSO model for compensation of passenger transportation from the budget;
- approve the road map of Ukrzaliznytsia’s tariff reform and create a working group with the participation of shippers’ representatives;
- to establish clear rules for the formation of the market price for the use of UZ wagons, in particular through auctions.
Agrarians also propose to bring the income rates of 1st class cargoes and non-class cargoes at least to the level of the cost price, and then move to tariffs that will ensure the same profitability of transportation of all types of cargoes. According to the signatories of the appeal, this will not only allow the UZ to solve the problem of unprofitability and strengthen financial stability, but will also increase the total added value.