JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (Kyiv) is considering the possibility of repairing 300-500 passenger cars in 2020 if the developed model of repairs is supported by the government, the company’s press service has reported, with reference to company head Yevhen Kravtsov.
“Ukrzaliznytsia has invented a model according to which in 2020 overhauls of up to 500 passenger cars could be carried out … According to experts, under the formula one car can be updated for UAH 1 million. For comparison: a completely new wagon costs UAH 25 million today, overhauls cost UAH 11-12 million,” the company said.
According to Kravtsov, the company receives most complaints about the quality of passenger cars because of old windows, worn toilets and heating systems.
“We found a model of how to make overhauls on these items with minimal resources. This is replacing windows with new double-glazed windows, replacing toilets and heating,” Kravtsov said.
He said that the possibility of repairing 300-500 cars is foreseen for 2020.
“If we can maintain such a pace, then in about three years we will forget about the problem of cars in the economy segment. I hope this initiative is supported at the government level, and we can start this program,” the head of Ukrzaliznytsia said.
As reported, Ukrzaliznytsia expects profit at the level of UAH 2.5-3 billion over 2019.
In 2018, Ukrzaliznytsia saw net profit rise by 78% compared to 2017, to UAH 203.9 million
Ukrainian authorities want to pass JSC Ukrzaliznytsia to management of Deutsche Bahn AG (DB), Germany’s operator of railways, for 10 years, Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has said. “Yes, we want to pass our railways to the Germans to manage it for 10 years,” Honcharuk said at the Ukrainian Breakfast in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday morning.
He added that the authorities of Ukraine associate not only expectations about the development of Ukrzaliznytsia with this decision. “This is ecosystem-based issue, which should show that Ukraine is unprecedentedly open for investment, for the world, for new standards,” the prime minister said.
Honcharuk said that, despite the fact that it is still necessary to negotiate and agree on the details of the decision and documents, “a political decision on this has already been taken and this is a huge step.”
Later, at a briefing on the sidelines of the Ukrainian Breakfast, the prime minister said that the relevant agreement with DB will be “early February.”
As reported, on January 22, 2020, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and Deutsche Bahn in Davos, Switzerland, signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic partnership in the industry and the development of Ukrzaliznytsia.
“This memorandum is not yet about privatization, and not about concession, but about strategic partnership. That’s great news,” Honcharuk said, when opening a meeting of the National Investment Council under the president of Ukraine in Davos.
He said that the country needs such assistance to improve the situation on the country’s railway and realize its logistics potential.
At the same time, speaking about the memorandum, in his Twitter account, Honcharuk said that German specialists will reform the management mechanisms of Ukrzaliznytsia, and Ukraine will retain full control over the enterprise.
“I hope that German operational efficiency and zero tolerance for corruption will become the basis for changing the situation in Ukrzaliznytsia,” the prime minister wrote.
According to the text of the memorandum, the parties will study the possibilities of creating a strategic partnership between Ukrzaliznytsia and DB.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (Kyiv) during the current winter holidays transported more than 3.3 million passengers in long-distance and high-speed trains, which is 6.5% more than last year (3.1 million).
According to the company’s press service, Ukrzaliznytsia put on 49 additional passenger trains for this period, which carried out 403 trips. These trains transported 474,000 passengers.
In addition, 2.2 million people were transported by year-round trains, 336,000 by high-speed trains, and 263,000 by regional trains.
Representatives of Germany’s Deutsche Bahn railway concern jointly with the Ukrainian government and JSC Ukrzaliznytsia are working on strategic partnership, the Center for Transport Strategies reported last week, referring to Deputy Director of the Center for Eastern European Studies in Berlin, ex-member of Bundestag Dmitry Stratievsky.
According to him, representatives of the German concern plan to visit Kyiv in the coming days.
“The alliance with Deutsche Bahn is interesting for Ukraine, first of all, with technologies and investments in updating the infrastructure. Undoubtedly, the leaders of the German market have something to share with their Ukrainian colleagues. Deutsche Bank and E.ON plan to join this process,” Stratievsky said.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia has served the first transit train on the Sanya-Slawkow (China-Poland) route, head of the company Yevhen Kravtsov said on his Facebook page.
“The first container train from China to the European Union traveled 39 hours and 54 minutes through the territory of Ukraine. For the first time, the train traveled on the wide gauge LHS without an overload on the border. Colleagues met it in Poland’s Slawkow. The China-E transit route through Ukraine is reliable, cheap and convenient for all participants in the logistics chain, and this train is a good and first important sign in organizing large-scale projects with China and Central Asia for Ukrzaliznytsia,” Kravtsov said.
He also said that Ukrzaliznytsia has a number of advantages for such routes and their development in the future, as it can be part of the land, sea and TITR routes (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route).
At the same time, he noted a decrease in the volume of transit traffic of the country as a whole.
“Since 2008, the volume of transit traffic of Ukraine has been falling. Transit from China to the EU countries has a number of artificial barriers with political coloring. This is not a business issue, but geopolitics,” Kravtsov explained, adding that Ukrzaliznytsia is the most reliable partner for transit, as it offers alternative and profitable routes.
According to the head of Ukrzaliznytsia, the indicated container train left China’s Xi’an for Slawkow, the travel time was 12 days. According to Kravtsov, for the Ukrainian railway company this is an effective beginning of the year in freight traffic.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia jointly with the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine have signed a memorandum of intent with General Electric Transportation (the United States) on the acquisition of 40 more locomotives made by the U.S. company.
“We agreed on the next phase of the acquisition of 40 GE locomotives. We plan that we will receive the first of them in 2020,” Head of Ukrzaliznytsia Yevhen Kravtsov wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
According to Kravtsov, the new rolling stock will significantly improve the operation of the diesel locomotive traction and the overall operations of the company.
The head of Ukrzaliznytsia said that the first batch of 30 GE locomotives is already operating successfully and is demonstrating its effectiveness, performing about 20% of all freight work.
“According to our estimates, in 2019, only thanks to GE locomotives, we saved about UAH 100 million on fuel,” Kravtsov said.
According to him, the localization of production for the first GE locomotives should be 15%.
