Ukrainian Railways: Development Ministry to decide on raising tariffs for rail freight transportation

MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Railways has drawn up proposals for a 37% indexation of tariffs for freight transportation in 2025, and they have been submitted to the Ukrainian Ministry for Communities and Territories Development, deputy director of the company's transportation technology and commercial operations department Valery Tkachev said as quoted by Ukrainian media.

"If Ukrainian Railways' tariff proposals were endorsed by the Infrastructure Ministry and the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development [a draft order will be published on the ministry website for public discussion and approval], their public discussion would take at least a month," Tkachev said at a meeting of the Ukrainian Railways Export Office on Thursday.

The Ukrainian Railways' management is open to dialogue with businesses on indexation, Tkachev said. The Ukrainian Railways board chairperson has already held a number of meetings with leading business associations and specialized associations. Currently, efforts to agree on the indexation of tariffs are ongoing.

"A final decision on indexation is made by the ministries after coordination with the central executive authorities and discussion with businesses," Tkachev said.

Representatives of Ukrainian businesses, in particular, the European Business Association (EBA) and the CEOs of metallurgical plants, are strongly opposed to the increase in Ukrainian Railways tariffs. They urged the government to freeze these tariffs at the current level until the crisis is over.