Ukrainian Railways to enlarge public procurement budget to 65 bln hryvni in 2024

MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Railways is planning to enlarge the public procurement budget to 65 billion hryvni in 2024, in particular, through infrastructural projects, Ukrainian Railways CEO Yevgeny Lyashchenko said on 2024 Supplier Day in Kiev on Tuesday.

"Our procurement budget has topped 80 billion hryvni in the past two years. [...] This year, in 2024, we are planning to enlarge and enlarging this amount. [...] Our goal is 65 billion hryvni," Ukrainian media quoted Lyashchenko as saying.

In his words, the scope of public procurement will depend on Ukrainian Railways' projects, including those infrastructural.

"Besides [railroad] crossings to the European Union, a big input has been made in expanding the infrastructure on the way to Danube ports, and now we are working to increase the capacity for transportation to the Greater Odessa ports," Lyashchenko said.

For instance, 11,000 procurements worth of 56 billion hryvni were announced and contracts totaling 47 billion hryvni were signed in 2023, Ukrainian Railways said. The number of bidders reached 5,280. The average competition ratio was 1.53.

Ukrainian Railways' public procurement stood at 34 billion hryvni (3,550 bidders) in 2021, versus 35 billion hryvni (2,270 bidders) in 2022.