The reform of the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) and the abolition of its monopoly status in the railway market will allow competition in this market and thus facilitate the reduction of freight tariffs.
Leonid Kozachenko, president of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation, stated this while commenting on Ukrzaliznytsia’s initiative to harmonize tariffs.
This was reported by the CFTS portal, citing the publication Business Censor.
"The state should have a monopoly only on the railway itself: not on branch lines, but on the central, main line. Most EU countries have such a monopoly. Everything else should be privatized. If this were the case today, I believe that tariffs would have fallen by at least 30%, and to some destinations by as much as 50%," he said.
Kozachenko noted that the European Union has long been waiting for Ukraine to implement this railway reform, but it has stalled.
"The EU keeps telling us about the reform. Today, 308 companies are licensed to transport passengers and freight by rail in the European Union. Not a single state-owned company is involved in these transport services. Meanwhile, Ukraine has a monopoly without competition. Over the past 10 years, with great effort, we managed to push through legislative changes that gave us the right to manufacture private railcars. Now we have a lot of wagons, so it is necessary to allow private traction," Kozachenko said.
As previously reported, Ukrzaliznytsia has submitted proposals to the Ministry of Infrastructure to unify freight rates. Businesses believe that an increase in tariffs would have a serious impact on the industrial sector.
