JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" (UZ) anticipates that indexed tariffs will come into effect on February 1, 2025, as stated by the company's chairman, Alexander Pertzovsky in an exclusive interview with the "Interfax-Ukraine" agency.
According to him, this will enable UZ to remain "afloat" and continue to carry out transportation safely and without interruption.
"The start date for indexed tariffs - IF-U depends on the speed of all necessary approvals. In our financial plan draft, we aim for the company to stay 'afloat' and be able to carry out transportation safely and continuously, and we are assuming that indexed tariffs will be operational by February 1, 2025. Otherwise, there are significant operational risks due to underfunding of repairs and the inability to retain the railway workforce," said Pertzovsky.
It was previously reported that the supervisory board of UZ approved the indexing of freight tariffs, which had not been adjusted for nearly two years, since the summer of 2022. During this period, the industrial producer price index has already reached 176.4%. At the same time, railway workers suggested limiting the tariff increase to a much more moderate figure of just 37%, or about 13% on an annual basis, considering that 2.5 years have passed since the last adjustment, as reported by the press service.
Proposals for increasing tariffs were approved by the UZ board on December 5, 2024.