Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Chairman of the Board of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia,” announced the implementation of measures in October to reduce personnel costs: the company must save at least 200 million hryvnias per month in payroll expenses; in particular, the management staff will switch to a four-day workweek.
“These steps will not be easy and will affect a significant portion of our staff. This will mean fewer paid working hours and lower earnings. I understand how painful this is for your families, especially as winter approaches. However, without these steps, the railway cannot survive under current conditions,” Pertsovskyi noted in an address on the “UZ” corporate channel.
He emphasized that Ukrzaliznytsia’s priority will remain minimizing the impact of these measures on the operational staff who ensure train operations and perform repairs on the railway infrastructure.
According to him, the implementation of these decisions will primarily affect management bodies—specifically, the central office and regional branches—as well as administrative and engineering staff.
Among other measures is the suspension of bonus payments to administrative staff in the management offices of branches, regional offices, and operational units.
“This is the only way to preserve bonuses for the operational staff—those who work day and night on restoration and repairs and ensure train operations. We appreciate the contribution of administrative staff and understand the importance of their work, but today we are forced to make this choice,” added Pertsovskyi.
At the same time, he mentioned the possibility of offering part-time work in the company’s divisions and branches.
“I can assure you: as soon as the situation begins to stabilize (at least when freight volumes partially recover and the ports reopen), the first thing we will gradually ease is the restrictions on personnel expenses to improve our employees’ situation!” emphasized the chairman of the UZ board.
He noted that meetings with staff will be held in the coming days and weeks to explain these decisions.
In addition, Pertsovskyi announced that a briefing on the current situation and future plans will be held for railway employees at least once a month.
Ukrzaliznytsia explained that these decisions are driven, in particular, by a decline in freight volume to less than 250,000 metric tons per day—down from 450,000 metric tons in July and over 730,000 metric tons prior to Russia’s full-scale aggression.
The situation is further complicated by Russian attacks, which put up to 40 locomotives out of service each month, requiring significant resources for repairs.
In addition, Pertsovskyi pointed out the need to secure “hundreds of millions of hryvnias” to build mobile shelters at the company’s facilities to ensure the safety of its employees.
“Therefore, without optimizing personnel costs—a last resort to which we are resorting—we will not be able to survive!” the chairman of the board concluded.
The Interfax-Ukraine news agency contacted the Ukrzaliznytsia press service for comment to clarify the details of the decision.
cost savings, FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION, STAFF, UKRAINE, UKRZALIZNYTSIA
