Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Ukrzaliznytsia raises prices for beverages starting June 18

Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) will revise prices for a number of goods sold on long-distance trains for the first time since 2018. The changes will take effect on June 18, 2025, the company said.

“In particular, the price of a cup of classic tea will increase from 10 UAH to 20 UAH, which, according to market price analysis, will still remain significantly below the average market price. However, this increase will allow the railway to at least cover the operating costs associated with the sale of these products,” the company said in a statement on its Facebook page on Tuesday.

As emphasized by Ukrzaliznytsia, this will be the first price increase since 2018, while the cost of raw materials, energy, logistics, and the inflation index (consumer prices) have shown steady growth throughout the period.

It is emphasized that the price revision will be up to 20 UAH and will affect carbonated and non-carbonated water, instant coffee and 3-in-1 coffee drinks, while boiling water will remain free of charge. Prices for all beverages on Intercity+ high-speed trains, as well as for hot meals as part of a pilot project on long-distance trains, remain unchanged.

“Important: Ukrzaliznytsia continues to keep ticket prices for the social segment of passenger transportation unchanged since the beginning of the full-scale invasion,” the company emphasized.

In comments to the post, passengers suggested automatically including the cost of drinks to maintain demand. In response to the suggestion, Ukrzaliznytsia noted that both bed linen and drinks are optional extras, and the company does not plan to force passengers to purchase goods. The company believes that: “passengers should have the choice to refuse or add services.”

In addition, one of the flights is testing the possibility of paying for additional services by card and hopes to quickly expand this option to other routes.

Ukrzaliznytsia reminded that three types of classic tea, three types of signature tea, capsule and drip coffee, as well as an updated range of snacks are currently available on trains. Passengers on international trains are offered a dessert menu, children’s carriages have a special children’s menu from restaurateur Yevgen Klopotenko, and four long-distance trains are testing full lunches: deruny, pilaf, potatoes with chicken, and syrniki.

Ukrzaliznytsia will change grain transportation speeds for calculating car costs starting June 16

Ukrzaliznytsia plans to change average transportation speeds for grain cars starting June 16, according to Valery Tkachov, deputy director of the commercial department at Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) Valery Tkachov during an online meeting with participants in the agricultural market.

He noted that for grain cars of the Center for Transport Logistics branch of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia on domestic and import transportation, the speed for car dispatch will be 111 km/day, for route trains — 258 km/day; for export transportation via land crossings — 144 km/day and 217 km/day, respectively; for export transportation to port stations — 189 km/day and 323 km/day, respectively.

Tkachov added that these transport speeds will be taken into account exclusively when calculating the cost of using Ukrzaliznytsia JSC wagons.

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KVZ will supply Ukrzaliznytsia with 95 compartment cars worth over UAH 5 bln

PJSC Kryukiv Railway Car Building Works (KVZ, Kremenchuk, Poltava region) will supply Ukrzaliznytsia with 95 sleeping compartment cars, including 88 compartment sleeping cars with a conductor’s compartment (KUP) and seven sleeping cars equipped for transporting persons in wheelchairs and with a train conductor’s compartment (KUPI).

According to information in Prozorro, the relevant contract was signed by the parties on June 6 following a tender for a total amount of UAH 4 billion 475 million 367 thousand without VAT (0.003% less than the expected price).

According to the contract, the price of one KUP car is UAH 46.895 million (excluding VAT) and UAH 56.27 million including VAT, and the price of one KUPI car is UAH 49.800 million (UAH 59.76 million).

The total price of the contract with VAT is 5 billion 370 million 440.4 thousand UAH. The terms provide for an advance payment of 58% within 14 working days from the date of receipt of the application from Ukrzaliznytsia.

According to the publication “Nashi Hroshi,” the new price of compartment cars in dollar terms is the highest in recent years, but it acknowledges that the increase in the currency price is to some extent related to changes in the cars themselves.

The delivery date for the cars is no later than December 31, 2028.

As reported, following the results of a tender in the fall of 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia signed a contract with KVBZ for the manufacture of 44 passenger cars (including 9 second-class cars) for UAH 1.951 billion (including VAT) with delivery by December 31, 2025.

In December of the same year, Ukrzaliznytsia signed a contract with KVBZ for the supply of 22 new passenger cars for UAH 980.45 million (including VAT) by June 30, 2026.

By spring 2023, KVBZ completed the order from Ukrzaliznytsia for the delivery of 100 passenger cars under a 2021 contract worth over UAH 3 billion.

KVZ manufactures passenger and freight cars, regional diesel trains, high-speed interregional trains with locomotive traction, spare parts, and bogies for freight cars.

In 2024, the plant sold 1,096 freight cars, which is almost 10% more than sales in pre-war 2021. The first 15 passenger cars were also delivered to Ukrzaliznytsia under contracts for 66 units. Net profit amounted to UAH 81.08 million, compared to a loss of UAH 143.76 million in 2023.

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Ukrzaliznytsia successfully resumed online scrap metal auctions

Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) held its first successful online scrap metal auctions after a hiatus of more than a year and a half, according to the Prozorro.Prozori system.

According to a press release on Friday, June 5, Ukrzaliznytsia held online auctions for the sale of scrap metal on the state electronic trading system Prozorro.Prozori. These are the first auctions after a hiatus of more than a year and a half.

It is specified that of the 33 lots of ferrous metal scrap put up for auction, seven were distributed, with participants competing for them. On average, three participants competed for Ukrzaliznytsia’s scrap.

The cost of the lots at the auction started at almost UAH 11.9 million, and according to the results of the auction, the winners will have to pay almost UAH 13 million for them. Ukrzaliznytsia will receive the most money from the sale of 300 tons of scrap from railway wheel axles – over UAH 2.3 million.

As reported by the Interfax-Ukraine agency, on June 5, 2025, an auction was held for the sale of ferrous metal scrap (type 4, lot weight – 142.608 tons) with a starting price of UAH 1 million 29 thousand. The auction was won by NDMZ LLC, and the lot was sold for 1 million 240 thousand 689.60 UAH.

In addition, on June 5, an auction was held for the sale of ferrous metal scrap (type 213, lot weight – 300 tons) with a starting price of UAH 2.80 million excluding VAT. The auction was won by ZAKHID-TEKHNOMEDBUD LLC, and the lot was sold for UAH 2 million 318.1 thousand.

An auction was also held for the sale of ferrous metal scrap (type 3 (axles), lot weight – 200 tons) with a starting price of UAH 1.520 million excluding VAT. The auction was won by ZAKHID-TEKHNOMEDBUD LLC – lot sold for UAH 1 million 790.001 thousand.

On Thursday, an auction was also held for the sale of ferrous metal scrap (type 10, lot weight – 320 tons) with a starting price of UAH 1 million 702.4 thousand excluding VAT. The auction was won by UKRPOUTBRUKHT LLC – the lot was sold for UAH 1 million 920.001 thousand.

Successful bidding also took place for other scrap lots.

In addition, it was reported that the auctions scheduled for May 26 of this year did not take place due to the lack of bids from participants.

Prozorro.Prozori is a joint-stock company, 100% of whose shares are owned by the state represented by the Ministry of Economy. Prozorro.Prozori operates an electronic trading system for online auctions for the sale and lease of public assets, including the property of Ukrzaliznytsia.

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Ukrzaliznytsia recognized as Ukraine’s largest employer

According to the ranking of the largest employers by region in Ukraine, compiled by OpenDataBot based on official reports from the State Statistics Service, Ukrzaliznytsia has been recognized as the largest employer in Kyiv and the entire country.

The largest employer in Ukraine with 178,616 employees. A state-owned railway company founded in 1991 on the basis of the infrastructure of the Ukrainian SSR. It is a monopoly in the railway transport market. It is part of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. Its head office is in Kyiv.

Financial indicators: As of 2023, the company’s revenue exceeded UAH 95 billion. In 2024, the company was ranked among the top ten transport operators according to the OpenDataBot Index.

Activities: Provides passenger and freight transportation services and owns a railway network of over 19,000 km. The company is actively modernizing its rolling stock and introducing digital services.

 

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Ukrzaliznytsia reduced grain transportation by third in January-April 2025

The volume of grain transported by Ukrzaliznytsia in January-April 2025 decreased by almost 33% compared to the same period last year, to 10.092 million tons, according to Valery Tkachov, deputy director of the company’s commercial department.

“From January to April, 10.092 million tons of grain were transported by rail. Compared to last year, we have seen a decline in transportation of almost 33%, or 4.96 million tons,” Tkachov said at an online meeting with the agricultural market on Thursday.

According to him, one of the reasons for the decline is the large volumes of transportation in the first half of 2024, related to the operation of the “grain corridor,” which started in October 2023.

“Due to the fact that the ‘grain corridor’ began operating in October 2023, farmers did not have time to harvest their crops, and therefore these volumes were transferred to the first half of 2024,” Tkachev explained.

Another reason for the reduction in grain shipments by rail in 2025 is a slight decrease in the grain harvest.

The third reason is the lack of complete data in the system, as due to the cyberattack on March 23, shipping documents were issued in paper form for some time. On April 4, Tkachov reported that since the date of the cyberattack, shippers had issued more than 50,000 documents in paper form, and that this number had now been reduced to 4,000. He admitted that once all transport documents had been entered into the electronic system, the freight vertical’s performance indicators would be adjusted.

Of the 10.092 million tons of grain transported in January-April, 8.958 million tons were exported, with exports amounting to 2.76 million tons in January, 2.25 million tons in February, 1.68 million tons in March, and 1.1 million tons in April.

The volume of grain transported in the first 20 days of May amounted to 1.207 million tons, with an average daily load of approximately 73,000 tons.

At the same time, 89% of the grain transported by rail in May was destined for ports, compared to 92.6% in April and 90% in March. Only 10% of all grain transported for export went through western land crossings.

The situation is different for vegetable oil, with only 37.1% of the total volume transported to ports in May. In April, this figure reached 47.3%. The rest of the oil is transported through western land crossings. In total, 511.4 thousand tons of oil and 799.4 thousand tons of oilcake and meal were exported in the first four months of 2025.

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