12 Aug 2022 14:15

Ukrzaliznytsia expecting to lose hundreds of millions of hryvni in 2022

MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) is expecting to lose hundreds of millions of hryvni in 2022, Ukrzaliznytsia Board member Yevhen Lyashchenko said at a press conference on Friday, as reported by the Ukrainian media.

"We posted UAH 465 million revenue last year and were planning to have more revenue this year, but we have actually incurred losses. [...] We will be posting losses this year, but they are controllable and will be compensated by the government in the fields of reconstruction of infrastructure elements and passenger transportation," Lyashchenko said.

Ukraine posted net profit of about 460 million in 2021, as against net losses of almost UAH 11.9 billion in 2020. It was planning net profit of UAH 1.7 billion in 2022 before the crisis began.

Ukrzaliznytsia is not planning to increase cargo transportation charges in 2023, Lyashchenko said.

"We do not envisage higher tariffs for next year [in the 2023 financial plan]. We understand it would be a right thing to do, but we still need to discuss the issue with the market," he said.

The same tariffs preserved in the financial plan for next year will be compensated by the increased amount of cargo transportation, Lyashchenko said.

"We can see that next year will be more balanced, yet everything will depend on government support and investment activity," he said.

Lots of repairs and infrastructure recovery projects are planned for 2023, and the company does not have enough equity for that, Lyashchenko said.