"We are currently developing a new system of tariffs. According to the draft law on railways, we have divided tariffs into three parts, relating to infrastructure, rolling stock, and railcars," First Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Shulmeister said during a meeting with shippers at the European Business Association, the CFTS portal’s correspondent reports.
According to him, such an approach will allow liberalization of the market, among other things. "We want to create an environment that will allow both private railcar and locomotive companies to develop. This does not yet exist in practice, i.e. we need to create conditions under which these companies will be able to develop and compete with the companies that are part of Ukrzaliznytsia," said Shulmeister.
"No matter what is being transported on the road - gravel or coal - the fact is that the road wears the same way. No matter what kinds of goods are being transported, the infrastructural tariff will be the same. We will have to determine what it will be based on the direction in which we want our railways to develop. Over the past five years, repair of the roadbeds that requires repair has increased from 4.800 kilometers to 5,800 kilometers. These are the ones that require overhaul. This is the result of the fact that we virtually have no investment in Ukrzaliznytsia," the official said.
At the same meeting, Ukrzaliznytsia’s head Oleksandr Zavhorodnyi announced that Ukrzaliznytsia’s freight tariffs could be raised before the end of 2015. He did not specify the margin by which the freight rates will be raised, but he did say that the cost of transporting coal would increase by 7 percent and building materials by up to 20 percent.
