The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (JSC Ukrzaliznytsia) has prepared a roadmap for establishment of a subsidiary called Vokzalnaya Company, which is expected to begin operation before the end of 2019.

This was announced by JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, the CFTS portal reports.

"Our goal is to improve the system for managing train stations and improve their efficiency, including by minimizing duplicate functions. The main goals also include reduction of financial costs. I will provide just one figure that demonstrates the need for change: the negative financial result of the train stations operated by JSC Ukrzaliznytsia’s Passenger Company subsidiary amounted to UAH 405 million in 2018," said Anton Sabolevskyi, the director for strategic development and investment policy at JSC Ukrzaliznytsia.

According to him, JSC Ukrzaliznytsia plans to perform the relevant reorganization in three phases. In total, 106 train stations will be transferred to the new company during the first phase.

According to Sabolevskyi, JSC Ukrzaliznytsia has decided to base the reorganization on the German model for management of train stations (in which all train stations and stops are transferred to a subsidiary).

The Deutsche Bahn state railway company used this model when it created a separate entity called DB Station & Service. It had almost 11,000 stations under its control when it was founded in 2001, but it now has only 5,500.

"Some railway stations were closed or optimized. Interestingly, anyone can buy a railway station in Germany. In many cases, legal entities or individuals become the new owners of low-volume train stations. A mechanism for auctioning train stations has been developed in the European Union,” Sabolevskyi said.

According to Sabolevskyi, more than 2,100 railway stations have been auctioned in Germany since 1999. Some were sold for the symbolic price of EUR 1, subject to investment in their development.

Moreover, according to Sabolevskyi, not every train station will have a director after the reform.

As the CFTS portal reported earlier, the Kyiv Central Railway Station building is being reformatted with the aim of leasing out more space.