Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) plans to raise ticket prices for SV and first class Intercity to partially compensate for losses from passenger transportation, said Serhiy Leshchenko, deputy chairman of the UZ supervisory board.
“We plan to raise dynamic pricing for SV and first class Intercity. This will partially improve the results, but not completely,” he said from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada, where he was summoned by deputies the day before, according to a correspondent from the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
Leshchenko noted that in order to avoid losses from passenger transportation altogether, it is necessary to increase passenger transportation prices by 3-4 times, which is impossible during the war.
The last time Ukrzaliznytsia raised prices was on February 1 this year for international trains to Poland and Hungary – by 17-37%. Thus, due to a reduction in discounts, the cost of tickets to Poland increased by 20-27% in 1st class “Intercity+” and SV carriages and by 9-27% in compartment carriages. The cost of travel on the most popular international trains: Kyiv-Warsaw increased by 37%, Kyiv-Budapest by 17% in SV carriages and by 21% in compartment carriages.
According to Ukrzaliznytsia’s expectations, which were presented in the 2026 state budget draft, losses from passenger transportation in 2025 will amount to UAH 20.8 billion, in 2026 – UAH 22.3 billion, in 2027 – UAH 24.7 billion, and in 2028 – UAH 29.4 billion.
According to the company’s results for 2024, losses in the passenger transport segment increased by UAH 2.4 billion, or 15.4%, to UAH 18.1 billion, which was covered by profits from the freight transport segment, which amounted to UAH 20.4 billion. At the same time, the company forecasts a sharp decline in freight transportation profits in 2025 to UAH 0.9 billion, moderate growth in 2026 to UAH 9.0 billion, in 2027 to UAH 12.6 billion, and in 2028 to UAH 19.3 billion.
Overall, in 2024, UZ increased its revenue by 11.1% to UAH 102.87 billion, but incurred a net loss of UAH 2.71 billion compared to a net profit of UAH 5.04 billion in 2023.
