The State Railway Administration (Ukrzaliznytsia) has denied media reports that its tariff commission, which its current General Director Borys Ostapiuk headed in 2006, illegally granted forwarders discounts on transit freight rates, the press service of Ukrzaliznytsia said in a statement.
"Such claims are subjective. Inspections of Ukrzaliznytsia’s economic operations and audits have found no abuses regarding this issue. The granting of preferential rates for transportation of certain types of goods is not something exclusive but something related to the usual activities of Ukrzaliznytsia’s permanent tariff commission,” the press service said.
Ukrzaliznytsia said that within the scope of the powers granted to it by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ukrzaliznytsia’s tariff commission has the right to set preferential rates by granting discounts of up to 50% on the rates that the tariff policy of CIS railways stipulates for international transportation of goods in the relevant freight year.
The tariff commission also has the right to grant discounts on freight rates within Ukraine. Decisions to grant such discounts for a clearly defined period are made by majority votes at meetings of the commission. In addition, the commission analyzes the economic impact, Ukrzaliznytsia said.
"Through the use of discounts, i.e. more competitive rates, railways manage to achieve an increase in transport volumes, attract new cargoes, and preserve the existing transit flows because there is fierce competition on the international transport market," said Ukrzaliznytsia.
Moreover, according to the press service, the tariff commission "does not keep its decisions secret" and sends extracts from minutes of its meetings to units of Ukrzaliznytsia, railways, freight owners, organizations of freight forwarders, and other companies involved.
