“Ukrzaliznytsia” introduces a new schedule of trains for the summer season-2023 from June 10, according to the Odessa City Council.
“In the new schedule, railroad workers have provided for a new train #148/147 Kiev – Odessa, which will run through Cherkassy,” the Odessa City Council said in a message in the Telegram channel on Saturday.
In addition, the following Ukrzaliznytsia trains extended the route:
№105/106 Odessa – Kiev – Odessa optionally will follow to and from Sumy station, which will allow Sumy residents to reach the seaside city by a direct flight with a convenient time of arrival in Odessa;
№53/54 Odessa – Dnipro – Odessa will optionally be able to run to and from Zaporizhzhia according to the new schedule.
Ukrzaliznytsia JSC is launching a new non-stop car service Vienna – Chop – Vienna from April 24.
“Meet the new alternative route of return from Austria and Hungary to Ukraine. On April 24, a new non-stop car service Vienna – Chop – Vienna will start running,” Ukrzaliznytsia’s Telegram channel said on Friday.
As reported, the car will depart from Vienna daily at 16:42, Budapest-Keleti 19:19 – 19:40, arrival in Chop at 02:28. “After passing border and customs control, continue your journey on the train number 750 Uzhgorod – Kiev, arriving in Chop at 05:19, Mukachevo 06:48 – 06:53, Lviv 11:00 – 11:23, arriving in Kiev at 18:30,” reports Ukrzaliznytsia.
Back from Kiev you can start the journey by train number 749 Kiev – Uzhgorod, which leaves daily from Kiev at 13:16, Lviv 19:59 – 20:25, Mukachevo 00:19 – 00:24, arrival in Chop at 01:10. After passing border and customs control at the station Chop, you can continue the journey by a new direct coach Chop – Vienna, which departs daily from April 25 at 03:28, Budapest-Keleti 08:20 – 08:40, arrival in Vienna at 11:21.
Reportedly, the cost of a ticket from Chop to Vienna is 1,730 UAH. “Tickets are already available at the international ticket offices of Ukrzaliznytsia. And tickets from Kiev to Chop and back can be purchased both at the ticket offices and online: in the application “Ukrzaliznytsia”, in the chat-bot and on the website”, – stated in the message.
Ukrzaliznytsia JSC has imposed a conventional ban on the transportation of food products to Slovakia, the company’s website says.
“It is forbidden to accept for transportation of cargo for the carrier JSC “ZSSK Cargo”, – noted in a note to the convention.
The ban applies to a large list of products: grains, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, fruit, sugar, alcohol, honey and more.
The restriction came into force on April 19, 2023 and will remain in force until it is lifted.
We shall remind you that “Ukrzaliznytsia” introduced several conventions on food imports to Poland. At the same time, more than 3 thousand freight cars with agricultural products are heading to this country.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) may grant Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) a EUR200mn emergency support loan under sovereign guarantees.
As stated in a statement on the bank’s website on Tuesday, the bank’s board of directors plans to consider the project at a meeting on May 10, 2023.
According to the information, the loan consists of EUR100 mln of emergency financing of UZ capital investments and EUR100 mln of capital structure support.
It is expected that 50% of the loan will be secured by guarantees of G7/EU donors involved in the conditions when local commercial structures cannot guarantee risk covering mechanisms.
It is noted that with the help of the loan, UZ will be able to increase cross-border capacity with the EU by removing bottlenecks in border crossing, as well as to repair the relevant sections of the railroad bed that were damaged due to the full-scale invasion of Russia. With the funding, UZ will not only be able to renew key rail corridors at the border with the EU, but also to purchase rolling stock to provide comprehensive solutions for expanding the capacity of rail corridors with the EU.
“The project will support the company in the current critical issues that need to be addressed to improve operations and connectivity with the EU, continuing to provide a vital service to people and businesses in need of reliable logistics for key Ukrainian exports (including agricultural products) and critical imports,” the project description on the EBRD website said.
Earlier, Fitch Ratings reported that amid negative operating cash flow expectations for UZ in 2023, the company needs financing which could amount to EUR400m, including EUR199m from existing credit lines with the EBRD and EIB and $200m in the pipeline.
At the end of 2022, UZ’s outstanding debt amounted to 39.5 billion UAH, compared to 33.5 billion UAH in 2021, of which Eurobonds accounted for 82.8% and debt in foreign currency – 94.3%.
At the end of January, UZ signed an agreement with the holders of two issues of Eurobonds worth $895 mln on the deferral of coupon payments and repayment for 24 months. Under the agreements, the new maturity date for the $ 594.9mn 8.25% Eurobond is July 9, 2026, and for the $300mn 7.87% Eurobond – July 15, 2028.
As a result of the bond restructuring, the company received a deferral between 2023 and 2025: only 4% of the total debt is due during that period. The main payments are now due in 2026 – 58% of the current total debt (mostly $595mn Eurobonds) and after 2027 – 32% (mostly $300mn Eurobonds in 2028).
Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) may create a freight carrier company by the end of 2023 to operate in Europe, UZ board chairman Alexander Kamyshyn confirmed to Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“It is true, we have to develop a European carrier both in passenger transportation and in cargo transportation. We have shown that we can be efficient, and those of our citizens who have used the services of European railroads have appreciated the difference in schedule, service, and many other things,” Kamyshyn said.
The necessity of creating one’s own company for cargo transportation outside of Ukraine is dictated by the fact that Ukrainian cargo carriers have difficulties working with European carriers. “Unfortunately, it is difficult for our cargo carriers to use European freight,” said Kamyshyn.
According to the head of UZ, such a company can be created by the end of the year. “There is hope, and we are doing everything to make it come true, but the speed of approvals in Europe, unfortunately, we would like it to be faster,” said Kamyshyn.
He also noticed that in order to establish a cargo carrier company one should not only buy the rolling stock, but also to get a license, to register and to hire a team.
Earlier it was reported that in the framework of the project UZ bought 40 tank cars European way, which will be supplied to the chain of diesel fuel in Ukraine, and plans to buy 100 fitting platforms.
Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) is negotiating with the Romanian side to implement a project that will extend the connection from the recently opened Valia-Visheului station to major cities in Romania, and continues to develop the connection between Ukrainian regional centers and international destinations, UZ board member Alexander Pertsovsky told Interfax-Ukraine Agency.
“We continue to develop international connections. We have already made the first steps to connect western Ukraine with Romania. So far it is one small station Valya-Visheului, but we are working with the Romanian side to extend messages to major cities on the Romanian side,” – said Pertsovsky.
According to him, there is a wide track (1520 mm) in this direction, on which ordinary Ukrainian cars will be able to pass.
As previously reported, last year UZ repaired sections Rakhiv – Dilove – Valya Visheului (19.2 km of track, 12 bridges), and also held repairs of the station in Rakhiv. This allowed to bring back to life a section of the railroad, which has not functioned since 2011, and to run trains number 755/756 and number 753/754 Rakhiv-Valya-Visheului-Rakhiv. Also, the section at the border with Romania, Teresva – border, which had not functioned since 2007, was repaired. There are also two international crossings between Ukraine and Romania, through which only freight traffic is carried out: Vadul-Siret-Dornesti and Dyakovo-Halmeu.
In general, due to active launching of new international communications, the number of passengers traveling in international directions from Ukraine has increased by 9 times, said Pertsovskyi, without specifying absolute numbers.
He pointed out that the most popular destination is Poland. Every day, UZ receives up to 2 thousand or more requests to buy tickets for the train Kyiv-Warsaw. As reported, to provide more seats, on February 19, UZ launched a service that allows people from Kharkiv to go to Kyiv and Kyiv-Warsaw train to Helm, where passengers can arrive in Warsaw at the same time as the passengers of direct train Kyiv-Warsaw with an interchange. Now there are 8 cars with the occupancy of 95%. In the future there may be up to 10 of them. Also on February 19 UZ started one more train Kharkiv-Peremyshl.
According to Pertsovsky, UZ will continue to develop the direction of communication of the regions in the direction of international destinations.
“We will continue to work with the Polish direction. We see that the routes connecting the same Kharkiv work effectively. We will see to what extent Dnipro, Odessa… Because since the beginning of the war we have got communication with Europe not only the capital, but also Dnipro, Zaporozhye, Odessa, Vinnitsa. And we look at the demand in these directions to assess plans for further development”, – said a member of the board of UZ.
