The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) has received over 1,000 tons of rails under a cooperation agreement between the governments of Ukraine and France. This is the first batch out of the planned 19,000 tons of rails worth EUR 37.6 million, the delivery of which is stipulated in the relevant intergovernmental agreement.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories announced this in a statement, the CTS portal reports.
Under the terms of the contract, the entire volume of rails will be delivered by the fall of 2025. This will allow Ukrzaliznytsia to build and repair almost 145 km of tracks. Specifically, major repairs will be carried out on the Intercity high-speed rail lines Lviv - Uzhhorod, Kyiv - Lviv-EU border, Kyiv - Odesa, Kyiv - Dnipro, and Kyiv - Kharkiv. The first batch of rails will be used to overhaul certain sections of railway tracks in March-April.
These deliveries of broad-gauge rails will help quickly repair the damage to the country's railways caused by military operations, ensure transport safety and sustainable logistics, and provide vital links between regions during the war, said Deputy Minister of Development of Communities and Territories Maryna Denysiuk.
Ukrzaliznytsia’s head Oleksandr Pertsovskyi noted that this is the first successful experience of securing such a long-term concessional loan. "After the occupation of Mariupol, we lost Ukraine's sole rail manufacturer, the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works. It is specifically thanks to our international partners that we are able to obtain this scarce product and continue to restore and maintain the railway infrastructure," he said. According to Pertsovskyi, the first batch of rails will enable the company to complete major track repairs on the Viitivtsi - Volochysk and Fastiv-2 - Ustynivka railway sections in March-April this year. These are the routes of high-speed trains to Lviv and Dnipro.
Under the intergovernmental agreement, Ukrzaliznytsia was granted a loan of EUR 37.6 million for 35 years at an interest rate of 0.0161% per annum. For the first 14 years, Ukrzaliznytsia will not repay the loan, effectively using the rails free of charge.
Last year, Ukrzaliznytsia also received 25,000 tons of rails from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under an "Emergency Recovery Program" funded by the Japanese government. In addition, 30,000 tons of rails are currently being purchased with funds from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
