The head of the Polish division of the British rail freight operator Freightliner, Konstantin Skorik, has outlined the prospects for his company’s entry into the Ukrainian market in an exclusive interview with the CFTS portal.
"If we imagine that Ukraine will implement broad reforms in the next 1-2 years, create an independent regulator, a system for accessing infrastructure, creates rules for licensing and certification of rolling stock... If all this happens, then the real litmus test for me will be development of the existing operators and their opinions on the real situation on the ground," said Skorik.
According to him, it is specifically local operators - for example, Lemtrans and Ukrmetalurgtrans - that should be the first to feel the effects of the reforms, which will serve as a signal to foreign investors.
"My British board of directors will not allow me to enter the market now, when the major components of reform do not exist and the track gauge is different. At the cross-border terminals, we are already entering both Ukraine and Belarus. We have agreements and we can work on transshipment and cross-border transportation. But, it is very risky to travel on the track gauge of 1520 milliliters in the absence of a legal framework and most foreign investors will not do it," he said.
