Rada committee in talks with Ukrainian Railways on applying special rate to shipments of Ukrainian foodstuffs - MP

MOSCOW. Feb 6 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada's Agrarian and Land Policy Committee is in negotiations with the national railway company Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ, or Ukrainian Railways) on making Ukrainian farmers eligible for special rates to transport their agricultural produce by rail, Ukrainian media have reported with reference to committee member Dmitry Solomchuk.

The share of daily container shipments of Ukrainian products and raw materials via the Polish, Romania, and Hungarian borders has increased lately, he said.

"Our committee is in negotiations with Ukrzaliznytsia on applying a special rate to the transportation by farmers of their produce. The daily price of a railcar is low in early summer when farmers don't export and don't transport anything, but it grows fivefold to tenfold in the fall and in winter, during the export period," Solomchuk said.

He called for arranging active negotiations with partners and switching to domestic production as much as possible while European farmers are demanding additional subsidies from the European Union and their governments and blocking borders with Ukraine.

"We need to survive this period and switch entirely to domestic production to be absolutely independent in terms of food and have cheap and affordable foodstuffs. I think Polish, German, and other buyers will come to our warehouses for our foodstuffs one day, because an economy always needs low-cost, quality products," he said.