OP "Ukrmetalurgprom" believes that in the situation of increasing the volume of transportation, it should be about reducing tariffs so that more shippers of goods return to UZ.
In the first half of 2024, the volume of cargo transportation by "Ukrzaliznytsia"increased by 17%, and the company additionally received over UAH 6.5 billion. That is, there is a tendency to increase freight turnover, and this is the main indicator that affects the profitability of UZ. Now the company can lower the tariff - to attract even more customers and to stimulate economic development, said Oleksandr Kalenkov, president of OP "Ukrmetalurgprom".
This is written by TTS with reference to Business Censor.
"In a situation of increasing volumes of transportation, it should be about reducing tariffs so that even more cargo senders return to Ukrzaliznytsia. And everyone expected that Ukrzaliznytsia, against the background of the fact that cargo flow is significantly increasing, almost by 1.5 times, if you compare the month for the month of 2022 and 2023, will reduce the tariffs. After all, in 2022, the tariffs for freight transportation were increased at once by 70%," Kalenkov reminded.
He noted that a 20-25% reduction in UZ cargo tariffs will allow exporters to refocus on Ukrzaliznytsia - that is, cargo flow will increase once again, and Ukrzaliznytsia will earn even more.
The expert expressed his conviction that the initiative to raise the tariff again is a vivid example of an economically unreasonable decision that will negatively affect business.
"Tariffs have increased by 2.5 times in hryvnias, but even in dollars they have increased by 1.5 times. This affects the cost price and, accordingly, the competitiveness of our products. We already lost a large number of our traditional products due to the war and disruptions in logistics markets. And now we will still lose because of the cost price," Kalenkov summarized.
We would like to remind you that from January 1, 2022, tariffs for freight rail transportation of goods of the first tariff class increased by 9%. This was stipulated by Order No. 586. Before that, tariff indexation also took place in August 2021.
In June 2022, UZ immediately raised tariffs for freight transportation by 70%.
Business representatives have repeatedly stated that UZ needs to focus not on raising tariffs, but on growing its freight base and reducing costs (for example, operating costs), which have increased significantly over the last period. The union "Ukrmetalurgprom", in turn, stated that the increase in tariffs for railway transportation will seriously affect the industry.