The law on the state budget for 2025, which the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, adopted on 19 November, allocates more than UAH 7 billion for the development of Ukrainian railway infrastructure and modernization of the passenger railcar fleet.
The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
"It provides for a targeted budget program for co-financing railway infrastructure projects with international funds. This will make it possible to attract significant European funds for railway modernization. For example, this is how Poland’s infrastructure was developed. Thanks to the funds for purchasing passenger carriages, over 160 domestic enterprises engaged in the production of carriages will be flooded with orders," said Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia.
The main financial document of the country outlines the following projects for the development of Ukrzaliznytsia UAH 4.42 billion for the purchase of passenger railcars (continuation of the successful programs of previous years with the participation of Ukrainian production facilities: 100 carriages are already in service and 66 are under production); UAH 1.83 billion for the purchase of rails (under a joint project with the Government of France); UAH 1.217 billion for development projects (intermodal terminals, expansion of European standard gauge railways); and UAH 128 million for co-financing infrastructure projects with international funds.
Funds for purchasing passenger railcars and co-financing projects will be allocated directly from the Ukrainian state budget. Other projects will be financed with funds earmarked by international financial institutions.
As the CFTS portal previously reported, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted the law on the state budget for 2025. The document was approved by 257 votes in its second and final reading. The document provides for projected budget revenues of UAH 2.339 trillion, projected expenditures of UAH 3.941 trillion, and a projected deficit of UAH 1.6406 trillion, which will be covered mainly by international aid. Ukrzaliznytsia will receive funds for co-financing a European project for the development of railway infrastructure, which is a prerequisite for the provision of European funds.
At the same time, according to MP Nina Yuzhanina, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, the government promised that all the money from the Road Fund would be directed to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but in reality, funding for road projects increased by UAH 1.2 billion. "In particular, UAH 24 billion of these funds will be used to pay off debts under the 'Big Construction' project, making roads a priority despite promises to direct these funds to defense needs," Yuzhanina said at a briefing.
As the CFTS portal reported earlier, the Budgetary Committee of the Verkhovna Rada considered the draft amendment No. 12000 to the draft law on the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025 dated 14 September 2024 and recommended adoption of the draft law in the first reading. It proposed allocating UAH 4.8 billion for new passenger cars.
It also proposed that the revenues of the Road Fund from all sources (UAH 43.2 billion in 2025) should be transferred to the General Fund of the State Budget to be used to finance priority needs, primarily national security and defense needs.
