The cost of using grain wagons belonging to the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) to export grain rose 9.5-fold from UAH 2,167 per day to a maximum of UAH 20,500 per day during the latest auction.

The Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.

"Thus, the cost of using a wagon alone will be UAH 3,150 per ton even when the turnaround time is 10 days. In addition, it is necessary to pay the tariff for the transportation of grain by rail, which was recently raised by 70%, the fee for loading and unloading wagons, the fee to foreign carriers, as well as several other additional payments," the statement said.

According to the statement, the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club urged Ukrzaliznytsia back in June not to introduce auctions under conditions of war, an artificially created shortage of grain wagons, and the nature of Ukrzaliznytsia’s monopoly position.

"These are auctions for tickets to survival. Imagine if the railway held auctions for every ticket for evacuation of people from Kharkiv or other cities," the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club’s head Roman Slastion said.

The Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club called on the government to end these auctions, provide information about the sequence for processing freight cars carrying agricultural products for export, introduce responsible planning of cargo transportation, and review the decision to raise tariffs by 70%.