On March 3, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a resolution to allocate UAH 16 billion to JSC Ukrzaliznytsia to launch a mechanism for state-ordered passenger rail transport in 2026, according to the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.
“The mechanism provides for compensation to Ukrzaliznytsia for the difference between the actual cost of passenger transportation and the income from ticket sales at current, socially accessible tariffs,” the Ministry of Development said in a Telegram post.
According to the information, funding will be provided on a quarterly basis through advance payments, and it is also planned to cover the costs of passenger transportation that were actually incurred in January-February 2026.
“The pilot project is an important step towards the introduction of the European PSO model in Ukraine – state procurement of socially important transport services – and the creation of a transparent and predictable system for financing passenger rail transport,” the Ministry of Development emphasized.
It recalled that the decision to launch this mechanism and the instruction to allocate funds for this from the reserve budget was approved by Cabinet Resolution No. 232 of February 18 this year. According to this document, advance payments to the carrier in the first quarter of this year will be made by March 6, and in the second, third, and fourth quarters – by March 25, June 25, and September 25, respectively.
For this year, the volume of state orders is set at 41.76 million train-kilometers in domestic traffic, with a planned cost of UAH 12.92 billion, while the planned revenue is projected at UAH 7.37 billion. In addition, planned investment costs of UAH 10.44 billion are included, which together forms a total of UAH 16 billion.
According to the results of Ukrzaliznytsia’s activities in 2024, the loss in the passenger transportation segment increased by UAH 2.4 billion, or 15.4%, to UAH 18.1 billion, which was covered by the profit from the freight transportation segment, which amounted to UAH 20.4 billion.
As reported by Serhiy Leshchenko, deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Ukrzaliznytsia, due to the loss of 49% of freight transportation in 2021-2025, the company can no longer subsidize unprofitable passenger transportation at their expense, proposes to increase freight tariffs by 41.5% in 2026 in two stages, and requests budget support.
In January-September 2025, Ukrzaliznytsia reduced its income from ordinary activities by 15.4% compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 66.03 billion, and received a net loss of UAH 7.32 billion, compared to a net profit of UAH 1.66 billion in January-September 2024.
Revenue from passenger transportation increased by 11% to UAH 9.5 billion, but revenue from freight and postal transportation decreased by 19% to UAH 50.1 billion, and revenue from other services decreased by 14.7% to UAH 6.36 billion.
Investment expenses for the first three quarters of 2025 increased to UAH 11.51 billion from UAH 9.46 billion in the same period last year.
In January-June, Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) increased passenger transportation by long-distance trains by 23% year-on-year to 13.5 million, the company’s press service reported.
According to the company’s telegram channel on Thursday, UZ carried 2.4 million more passengers during the reporting period than last year.
In the international direction, 1.1 million passengers were transported against 890 thousand in January-June last year.
It is emphasized that, in addition to quantitative indicators, the railroad focused on qualitative ones.
In the first half of the year, the overall on-time performance of domestic trains was 92%. Ukrainian railroaders managed to keep this figure despite enemy shelling of infrastructure, power outages that required a prompt switch to diesel traction, as well as during an active period of infrastructure repairs and “repair windows,” UZ said, noting that international traffic pulls down the on-time performance.
“Checks at border crossings often delay flights, and Ukrainian trains wait for international connecting flights to be late so as not to leave our passengers to fend for themselves,” the company explained.
Passenger satisfaction with the level of service and the work of train crews in the first half of the year was 67%, which is 4% higher than in the same period last year. In high-speed trains, this figure is 79%. The rate of satisfaction with the trip among female passengers in women’s compartments is consistently the highest – 88%, the report says.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia and Deutsche Bahn Engineering & Consulting have entered into an agreement on consulting in the field of passenger transportation, according to a posting on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
This is about improving the planning and development of passenger rail transport, optimizing purchases and renewing rolling stock.
Deutsche Bahn will help Ukrzaliznytsia to separate passenger from freight traffic and ensure efficient management. Consulting is the first stage of cooperation, which will be implemented by the end of 2021. After its successful implementation at the second stage, Ukrzaliznytsia will engage a team of Deutsche Bahn managers to directly manage passenger traffic in 2022.
“Transfer of Ukrzaliznytsia to the management of passenger transportation by DB Consulting is the first systematic step towards a complete transformation of railway transportation in Ukraine,” Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov said.
According to him, with this project the state begins Big Construction project at Ukrzaliznytsia, which will impact the entire infrastructure, rolling stock fleet and service.
“The agreement signed today is the first stage of cooperation, and we expect that, based on its results, we will move on to the next stage already at the beginning of 2022, when the team of German managers will be delegated for the operational management of passenger traffic in Ukraine,” the Ministry of Infrastructure said, citing Member of the Management Board for Infrastructure at Deutsche Bahn AG Ronald Pofalla.
According to acting Board Chairman of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Kamyshin, DB E&C is to develop a roadmap for the implementation of long-distance and suburban passenger transportation for the next five years and a model for financing passenger transportation.
“In the process of reforming the industry, we must change the long-standing practice of passenger transportation being financed by freight. These are separate areas of our company’s business, and they must be accounted for and financed separately. Therefore, we expect our consultant to develop an effective financial model for passenger transportation,” Kamyshin said.
In addition, DB E&C experts should determine the traffic volumes and the estimated capital investment needs of Ukrzaliznytsia to renew the rolling stock for use in Public Service Obligations (PSO) model.
The service provider will also provide an assessment of the prospects for the purchase and production of passenger rolling stock – regional electric trains, diesel trains, night train cars – and the possibility of producing such rolling stock within the framework of international cooperation with the participation of a Ukrainian manufacturer.
As reported, in August, Ukrzaliznytsia and DB Engineering & Consulting began cooperation to develop a new energy efficiency strategy for the company.
Size and weight control on Ukrainian roads can be expanded to include passenger transport, Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy said during a meeting “Safety Matters” on Tuesday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports.
“For all, the weighing systems in motion have always been especially for trucks. At the same time, it is clear that there are also irregularities in transportation out of the norm in passenger transportation. Since when more people get on a minibus or bus than the norm allowed by the technical parameters, these are the same risks. It is about the danger to passengers and road users. Therefore, the potential for size and weight control can be expanded from trucks to passenger transportation. And all this should work in a complex, single system,” he said.
According to the minister, this issue will still be finalized by the ministry together with the deputy corps.
In addition, Krykliy added that by the end of 2020, 50 more WIM weighing systems will be installed on national roads, and another 100 systems – by the end of 2021.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv), the largest Ukrainian airline, in January-March 2019 increased passenger transportation by 8% year-over-year, to almost 1.5 million people, the airline has reported on its website.
During this period, UIA operated 13,600 flights with the load factor of 75%, which correspondents to the figures of 2018.
At the same time, the punctuality rate of UIA during the first quarter of 2019 increased and reached 81% compared to 72% in 2018.
UIA mail and cargo traffic reached 4,500 tons and increased by 7% compared to the same period of the last year.
Ukraine International Airlines was founded in 1992. The fleet consists of 42 airplanes of different modifications. One of the ultimate beneficiaries of the airline is businessman Ihor Kolomoisky.
