If the Cabinet of Ministers gives priority in rail transport to oil and fuel, then metal products should be given the same priority, said Oleksandr Kalenkov, president of the Ukrmetallurgprom Public Organization, in a post on the organization’s website.
According to him, the government is drafting a resolution that will give priority on railways, in ports, and at the border to two types of cargo: fuel and vegetable oil.
“There are no issues with fuel. Without it, businesses cannot operate, and the country will not survive the winter. But the fact that vegetable oil ended up second on the list—and metallurgy isn’t even on it—surprised me, to be honest,” Kalenkov wrote.
He added that the draft’s authors explain their choice by citing high added value and foreign exchange earnings. “I agree with that. But based on precisely these criteria, the metallurgical industry should have been among the first on the list. In 2025, our industry accounted for about 5.5% of GDP, 150 billion hryvnias in taxes, and $6 billion in foreign exchange earnings,” stated the head of “Ukrmetallurgprom.”
Kalenkov emphasized that today, steelworkers are operating under constant shelling and are on the brink of survival. Since July, seaports have been effectively closed. Now, the railway crossings on the western border and the Danube are our only route to customers. The cost of transporting raw materials has risen from $30 to $68 per metric ton of product.
“Europe needs Ukrainian steel. Our main advantage over Asian competitors lies in speed: we deliver in days or weeks, not months. Therefore, every day spent waiting in line at the border translates into lost revenue for the state. On behalf of the industry, we have officially appealed to the Prime Minister to include metal products in this pilot program under the same conditions as fuel and oil. If the state sets priorities based on added value and foreign exchange, the steel industry must be on that list,” concluded the president of the “Ukrmetallurgprom” Association.
