Ukraine’s major industrial associations and groups oppose Ukrzaliznytsia’s significant and unjustified increase in freight rates, which would deal yet another blow to Ukraine’s economy.
Business representatives expressed this position at a press conference titled “A Tariff Blow to the Ukrainian Economy: Leading Industries Oppose Ukrzaliznytsia’s Unfair Increase in Freight Rates” at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Tuesday.
Oleksandr Kalenkov, president of the “Ukrmetallurgprom” Association, noted that while the draft order on raising tariffs has not yet been made public, the issue is being actively discussed. He emphasized that “Ukrzaliznytsia” is a state monopoly and that corruption is present in its operations. The company must operate transparently, and its activities should be overseen by an independent body—the National Commission for State Regulation in the Transport Sector—the creation of which has been under discussion in Ukraine for 17 years.
“We hope that the decision to raise tariffs will be made objectively. Moreover, freight transportation has always been profitable. Specifically, Ukrzaliznytsia’s operating profit in 2024 amounted to 20 billion hryvnias; profitability remained steady in 2025, and we also expect Ukrzaliznytsia to operate profitably this year. However, the volume of freight is decreasing: from 315 million metric tons in 2021 to 160 million metric tons in 2025,” said Kalenkov.
He added that the business community is trying to engage in a constructive dialogue with the company. In particular, there is the issue of subsidizing passenger transportation, but passenger transportation cannot be subsidized at the expense of private businesses; it must be funded through the budget. However, the business community can invest its own funds to provide support.
“Ukrzaliznytsia has opportunities to improve efficiency through its operational activities. Furthermore, it has the ability to secure external financing, whereas the private sector currently lacks such opportunities. So let’s resolve these issues together, rather than making decisions behind closed doors,” urged the head of Ukrmetallurgprom.
Kalenkov added that following the press conference, a joint appeal to the government would be drafted.
“We are prepared to accept a fare increase of up to 10%. And Ukrzaliznytsia itself must improve its efficiency. We need a normal, open discussion about the transportation situation,” he concluded.
Pavlo Kachur, head of the Association of Cement Producers of Ukraine (Ukrcement), noted that the transportation situation is becoming critical, and this threatens not only a specific industry but the Ukrainian economy as a whole.
“We support raising tariffs, but we advocate for an objective increase. Balanced rates must be adopted. No one has any interest in the collapse of any industry!” Kachur emphasized.
The head of “Ukrcement” proposed a set of solutions, including allowing private rail operators to participate in freight transportation, since, according to his data, up to 50 trains are unable to find locomotives for transport. Kachur also highlighted the need to raise salaries for train drivers and “Ukrzaliznytsia” employees, as well as the need to address the issue of passenger transportation, particularly commuter services.
He also spoke in favor of adopting anti-crisis measures and the need for “Ukrzaliznytsia” to publicly disclose its plans regarding where the funds generated by the tariff increases will be allocated.
“We support Ukrzaliznytsia presenting a program to modernize its rolling stock. We support the adoption of performance indicators for freight delivery so that the railway can report on this,” Kachur explained.
Serhiy Kudryavtsev, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Association of Ferroalloy Producers (UkrFA), supported the proposal regarding fares and resolving the issue of cross-subsidization. At the same time, for enterprises in the ferroalloy industry located in areas of active hostilities, the cost of freight delivery is a critical issue.
“The cost of transporting manganese to Nikopol has increased fivefold. And this is a matter of survival for our companies,” said Kudryavtsev.
Vladimir Gusak, CEO of the Federation of Transport Employers of Ukraine, expressed surprise at Ukrzaliznytsia’s plans to raise tariffs.
“This is yet another attempt by Ukrzaliznytsia to raise freight tariffs: by 30% starting in August 2026 and by another 15% starting in January 2027. That is, by nearly 50%. This shows a complete lack of understanding of the realities,” Gusak said, adding that the main problem is the chronic losses in passenger transportation. At the same time, the volume of freight transportation is declining: now, with every fare increase, companies are forced to either reduce shipments or switch to other modes of transport just to stay afloat.
“In the current situation, we believe a moratorium on railway fare increases should be implemented until the war ends,” Gusak emphasized.
Konstantin Saliy, president of the All-Ukrainian Union of Building Materials Manufacturers, noted that in developed countries, fare increases are approved only after consultations, and this issue always receives close attention.
“A 2–3% price increase in the EU causes significant public discontent. Here, however, it’s 30% right off the bat. And this will trigger a chain reaction of price increases—we’ll feel it first, and then consumers will,” Saliy predicted, adding that “Ukrzaliznytsia” could secure funding through land taxes, the development of retail trade at train stations, and other areas, rather than by raising fares. The company should streamline its administrative staff and optimize its expenses. And shifting its problems onto Ukrainians and Ukrainian businesses is the wrong approach, Saliy concluded.
Oksana Nechay, a logistics specialist for rail transport at the Kovalska Industrial and Construction Group, noted that every increase in production costs is practically catastrophic for their company.
“It will lead to a loss of customers, and we operate in the domestic market. And this will result in a drop in tax revenues. The next increase could also take a toll on part of the industry. Both we and Ukrzaliznytsia stand to lose. We are not opposed to an increase, but it must be justified, because we are interdependent,” Nechay said.
Ksenia Orynchak, Executive Director of the National Association of the Mining Industry of Ukraine (NADPU), reported on a “casual meeting” of mining industry representatives last week, as well as an appeal to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Development, and the State Regulatory Service to prevent an increase in railway tariffs.
“We outlined the negative consequences. Meanwhile, the EU is currently focusing on environmental issues. But Ukraine is moving in the opposite direction, shifting from rail to road transport due to Ukrzaliznytsia’s stance,” Orynchak noted, proposing that a joint appeal following the press conference highlight the need to pursue an environmentally friendly approach in line with the SVA.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/press-conference/1177028.html
BUSINESS, freight rates, INDUSTRY, KUDRYAVTSEV, Nechay, Saliy, TRANSPORTATION, UKRZALIZNYTSIA, КАЛЕНКОВ, Оринчак
The labor shortage in Ukraine has reached a historic high—69% of companies cited it as the main obstacle to doing business during the war, according to the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER), based on the results of its 49th monthly survey, which the IER conducted among 469 industrial enterprises.
“For several months now, the ‘labor shortage’ obstacle has been breaking records. This obstacle has remained in first place for over a year and a half, reaching a high of 69% in May. Businesses are concerned about the shortage of workers,” said IER Senior Research Fellow Yevhen Angel.
In May, there was a slight decrease in the difficulty of finding qualified workers—the share of enterprises that found it harder to recruit such workers fell from 62.3% to 60.6%. It is more difficult to find unskilled workers—for 38.4% of respondents in May, compared to 34.3% in April.
Only 2.4% of businesses plan to increase employment over the next three months, while 5.1% plan to place employees on mandatory leave.
“Rising prices for raw materials, supplies, and goods” remains the second-biggest obstacle—the figure fell slightly from 56% to 49%.
The share of those concerned about “unsafe working conditions” has decreased slightly: this issue has become an obstacle for 44% of businesses, down from 46% in April, allowing it to hold third place for the fourth consecutive month.
The pattern of “unsafe working conditions” as an obstacle remains consistent across enterprise size. Medium and large enterprises are more likely to cite this problem—48% and 47%, respectively, in May—as they are more likely to be targeted by enemy attacks.
“From a regional perspective, this obstacle is particularly acute in frontline and central regions—over 80% of respondents in the Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions cited it. In the west of the country, this obstacle is less relevant. The only exception is Rivne Oblast,” Angel said.
However, there have been noticeable changes regarding two other obstacles. The obstacle “decreased demand for products/services” rose from 26% to 38%. In addition, logistical difficulties have intensified, as evidenced by the increase in the obstacle “difficulties in transporting raw materials or finished goods across Ukraine” from 24% to 30%.
No significant changes were recorded for other obstacles. “Corruption” and “unlawful demands or pressure from law enforcement or regulatory agencies” remain “in the shadow” of the main obstacles—only 7% and 3% of respondents, respectively, mentioned them in May.
“The relevance of the obstacle ‘power outages’ remains at a relatively low level—20% in May—when compared to the winter attacks on our energy infrastructure,” Angel said.
It is noted that 31% of businesses temporarily suspended operations due to power outages in April, but mostly for short periods of time. At the same time, 41% of businesses operated continuously despite the outages. Already, 28% of businesses experienced no power outages, up from 20% the previous month.
Average working time losses amounted to 4% in April. The greatest losses of working time were observed in micro and small enterprises (57%); by industry, in the chemical industry (6%); and by region, in Kyiv (13%) and Sumy (9%) regions.
Assessments of the government’s economic policy remain neutral. “A large share of enterprises provide neutral assessments; specifically, 64% of respondents did so in May. The share of positive assessments remains low at 6%. At the same time, the share of negative assessments stands at 25%, and this gap between positive and negative assessments has persisted since the summer of 2023,” Angel summarized.
Up to 500 Ukrainian industrial enterprises located in 21 of Ukraine’s 27 regions participate in the IED’s New Monthly Enterprises Survey (#NRES). The survey has been conducted monthly since May 2022.
The volume of capital investments in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2026 rose by 5.1% compared to the first quarter of 2025, reaching 130.1 billion UAH, according to the State Statistics Service.
The agency specifies that 41.2% of the total value of capital investments was accounted for by industry (or 53.6 billion UAH), and 12.7% (or 16.5 billion UAH) by agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.
The vast majority of investments were concentrated in tangible assets—93.3% of the total volume. In particular, the largest amounts were invested in machinery, equipment, and tools (38.2%), engineering structures (19.2%), non-residential buildings (10.9%), and vehicles (10.5%).
According to the State Statistics Service, the main source of funding for capital investments in January–March of this year remains the own funds of enterprises and organizations—78.6%.
As previously reported, capital investments in Ukraine in 2025 increased by 20.3% compared to 2024, reaching 893.6 billion UAH.
CAPITAL INVESTMENTS, ECONOMY, ENTERPRISES, INDUSTRY, State Statistics Service
JSC “Kramatorsk Heavy Machine-Tool Plant” (KZVV, Perechin, Zakarpattia Oblast), nearly 97.7% of whose shares are owned by former People’s Deputy (2016–2023) Maksym Yefimov, ended January-March of this year with a net profit of UAH 106 million, which is 6.7 times less than the corresponding figure for January-March of last year.
According to the company’s financial statements in the disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), its net revenue, however, increased by 47.7%—to nearly 16 billion UAH.
KZVV reported UAH 202.5 million in gross profit (4.3 times less), while operating profit fell by 9.5 times to UAH 85.2 million.
Retained earnings as of March 31, 2026, amounted to UAH 1.87 billion (UAH 2.12 billion at the beginning of the year).
Compared to the beginning of 2026, the plant reduced its current liabilities by 15.5% to 33.9 billion UAH, while long-term liabilities, having decreased slightly, amounted to 122.1 million UAH.
The main specialization of KZVV, which was relocated from Kramatorsk to Perechin in the summer of 2022, is universal special-purpose machine tools designed for the energy, metallurgical, oil and gas industries, machine building, and rail transport, as well as machine tools for single-unit and small-batch production. The plant also manufactures special-purpose products.
In particular, the company “Friendly Wind Technologies” produces wind power equipment at the plant’s facilities, and in August 2023, the “Friendly Wind Technologies” industrial park was registered in Perechyn.
As reported, in 2025, KZVV increased its net profit by 2.3 times compared to 2024—to UAH 1.41 billion—as net revenue grew by more than 2.6 times—to UAH 50.4 billion.
PJSC “Zaporizhogneupor”, Ukraine’s largest refractory products manufacturer and a member of the Metinvest Group, reported a 4.4-fold increase in net loss for January–March of this year compared to the same period last year—rising to UAH 29.990 million from UAH 6.982 million
According to the company’s interim report, which is available to the agency “Interfax-Ukraine,” revenue from ordinary activities for this period decreased to UAH 869.871 million from UAH 970.715 million in the first quarter of 2025.
Retained earnings as of the end of March amounted to 59.283 million UAH.
According to the annual report, the company reported a net profit of 52.291 million UAH in 2025, while in 2024 the profit was 156.801 million UAH, with revenue from ordinary activities amounting to UAH 4,287,569 million (in 2024 – UAH 3,524,855 million).
Throughout 2025, refractory products were sold throughout Ukraine, excluding the temporarily occupied territories (TOT), and exports were directed to the following destinations: the Republic of Moldova (77% of total exports); Bulgaria (13%); Latvia (4%); North Macedonia (4%); Estonia (2%). A total of 2,815 thousand tons of products worth UAH 40.8 million were sold for export in 2025. In 2025, there was a 10% increase in gross export shipments in physical terms compared to 2024 (+262 tons).
In total, the plant sold 62,595 thousand tons of refractory products in 2025 and 62,976 thousand tons in 2024.
The number of employees as of the end of 2025 was 1,431, which is 3.9% more compared to 2024 (an increase of 53 employees). This increase was due to a decrease in employee turnover, the fulfillment of the hiring plan, and the additional recruitment of employees to implement projects. In 2025, the employee turnover rate decreased by 17.2% compared to 2024. The payroll fund for the company’s full-time employees in 2025 increased by 81.469 million UAH (+16.5%) compared to 2024, totaling 575.179 million UAH. The average monthly income of full-time employees was UAH 34,542, an increase of UAH 5,757 compared to 2024.
The company’s key development priorities include reducing costs; improving product quality and competitiveness; optimizing processes for supplying the company with energy resources and raw materials; and exploring new technologies and current trends in refractory production. As part of the company’s technical development in 2026, ten types of refractory products are planned for production.
“Zaporizhvognetriv” is Ukraine’s largest manufacturer of high-quality refractory products and materials.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) data for the first quarter of 2026, Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands) owns 50.7899% of Zaporizhogneupor’s shares, while Zaporizhstal holds 49.2101%.
The company’s authorized capital is UAH 75.925 million, with a par value of UAH 13 per share.
Industrial production in Germany fell by 0.7% in March compared to the previous month, according to the country’s statistics office. Analysts had expected industrial production to rise by 0.5% on average, according to Trading Economics.
According to revised data, the figure fell by 0.5% in February, whereas a 0.3% decline had previously been reported.
Output of consumer goods fell by 1.9% in March, while output of capital goods declined by 1.6%. Meanwhile, production of intermediate goods rose by 0.8%.
Production in the machinery sector decreased by 2.7%, and the energy sector saw a 4% decline. Meanwhile, construction output increased by 1.9%, and automotive production also rose by 1.9%.
On an annual basis, industrial production in Germany fell by 2.8% in March, following a 0.2% decline the previous month.
