Government Funding for Ukrzaliznytsia: A New Era for Passenger Services
The government will allocate 13 billion hryvnias to finance «Ukrzaliznytsia» in 2025. In 2026, the company will receive an additional 16 billion, as reported by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko during a press briefing.
«The 16 billion will cover the gap between ticket prices and their actual cost,» – Svyrydenko noted.
She pointed out that this year marked a significant imbalance: previously, revenues from cargo transport covered the losses from passenger services of «Ukrzaliznytsia», whose ticket costs are several times higher than the current prices.
«For instance, a ticket to Kherson costs about 200 hryvnias, while its actual cost is four times higher,» – the official explained.
The company suffered the most significant losses in the transportation of metals and coal, said Oleksandr Pertzovsky, the head of «Ukrzaliznytsia». He noted that these categories once accounted for 60% of the company's cargo transport volume.
«We lost more than half of our cargo volumes due to the advancing front,» – Pertzovsky stated.
Currently, according to him, long-distance transportation for «Ukrzaliznytsia» generates 7 billion hryvnias in revenue, while the company's expenses amount to 20 billion hryvnias, including salaries and electricity costs. The state compensates the 13 billion hryvnias difference.
These funds come from taxpayers, which is why «Ukrzaliznytsia» proposed the support program «UZ-3000». This program offers every Ukrainian free travel for 3000 kilometers on domestic long-distance routes within Ukraine.
«This initiative will be launched alongside the systematic compensation for the actual costs of passenger transport. It will improve the situation for the railway and maintain travel accessibility for all Ukrainians,» – emphasized Oleksandr Pertzovsky, chairman of JSC «Ukrzaliznytsia».
On November 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he instructed to develop a transport support program, under which «Ukrzaliznytsia» would provide Ukrainians the opportunity to travel 3,000 kilometers by train within Ukraine for free.
