The Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) is concerned about the latest decision of the Supervisory Board of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia to cancel the establishment of the UZ-Cargo freight branch.
According to a statement issued by the ULIE on Thursday evening, the decision in fact suspends the reform of Ukrzaliznytsia and blocks the planned capital investment in infrastructure, in particular, in the renewal of the freight car fleet.
In addition, the ULIE said that the decision of the supervisory board to stop financing the construction of new cars at the expense of the state will lead to the inability to absorb budget funds by the end of the year, which, in turn, will prolong the problem of critical wear of rolling stock and losses for export-oriented industries. This will negatively affect the national manufacturer in the field of transport engineering.
“Thus, ULIE expresses its concern about stopping the reform of Ukrzaliznytsia and calls on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as the main shareholder of the state-owned company to intervene in the situation and prevent growing confrontation between the supervisory board and the management board of Ukrzaliznytsia,” industrialists and entrepreneurs said.
In their opinion, the government should pay special attention to the support of the national interests of Ukraine in general and those already made strategic decisions regarding the development of the domestic railway, in particular, when selecting members of the Ukrzaliznytsia’s supervisory board.
“Ukrzaliznytsia’s modernization should be based on the principles of economic patriotism and understanding of the strategic importance that the company has for the transport infrastructure and the Ukrainian economy, its development in general,” the press service of ULIE said, citing President Anatoliy Kinakh as saying.
Earlier, former Business Development Director of Ukrzaliznytsia Andriy Riazantsev said that the supervisory board at its meeting on February 1, 2021 decided to cancel the decision of the Board of Ukrzaliznytsia to establish UZ-Cargo.
