Rail freight rates in Ukraine to jump 70% in July

MOSCOW. June 29 (Interfax) - Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry has backed a proposal from Ukrainian Railways (UZ) to raise freight shipping rates by 70%.

The relevant order was signed by Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov on June 22 and registered with the Justice Ministry on June 24, Ukrainian media reported.

A memo attached to the draft order said that UZ expects the rate hike to generate more than UAH11 billion (over $376 million at current exchange rate) of additional revenue by the end of 2022.

The company said freight shipments fell by about 65% to 27.1 million tonnes in the first five months of 2022 due to the situation in the country, with domestic shipments dropping 63% to 14.5 million tonnes, exports falling 60% to 10.8 million tonnes, imports plunging almost 85% to 1.6 million tonnes and transit tumbling almost 90% to 0.3 million tonnes.

The official exchange rate for June 28 was UAH29.25/$1.