The Ukrzaliznytsia public railway company intends to spend almost UAH 1 billion on procurement of 1,000 general-purpose freight gondola cars. This is stated in the relevant tender that the company invited through the ProZorro electronic auction system, the Delo publication reports.

The buyer of the freight cars is not Ukrzaliznytsia but its subsidiary – the Darnytskyi Railcar Repair Plant. The total purchase price is UAH 978 million.

Two tenders were for supply of 50, 100, 150, and 200 railcars were invited on September 16. The expected average price of a gondola car is UAH 978,000.

The deadline for submission of tender documents is October 17, but potential suppliers have so far submitted no bids through the ProZorro system.

The Ministry of Infrastructure recently said that Ukrzaliznytsia would buy 500 new freight cars with its own funds this year.

An additional 1,000 railcars should be purchased via open tender. First Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yevhen Kravtsov recently said that there was a shortage of almost 9,000 freight cars in Ukrzaliznytsia’s fleet.