The Ukrainian Agricultural Council and other key agrarian associations within the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Forum urged the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groisman to cancel the decision on the another increase in the rate of payment for the use of the wagons of the carrier of PJSC "Ukrzaliznytsya" outside Ukraine and the coefficients of idle run , which will come into force on November 13, 2018.

In addition, the associations urge the head of the government to initiate the release of the acting chairman of the Board of PJSC "Ukrzaliznytsya" Evgeniy Kravtsov in connection with the ineffective fulfillment of his powers, which has led to a critical situation in the market of rail freight transportation.

As stated in the text of the official appeal, which was sent to the Prime Minister on October 17, as well as to the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelian, currently the fee for the use of cars of PJSC "Ukrzaliznytsya" is UAH 1266 per car per day, which is 48 % more than the previous price. As a result of this increase, agrarians will be forced to pay an additional UAH 2 billion for the use of “Ukrzaliznytsya” rail cars by increasing the total cost of transportation.

This is the fourth increase in tariffs for rail freight during this year, which is critical for agrarians during the period of active transportation of grain carriages by PJSC "Ukrzaliznytsya".

At the same time, the increase in tariffs does not provide any guarantees for the improvement of the functioning of PJSC "Ukrzaliznytsya". The turnover of grain carriages has already increased to 12-16 days from 5 days in 2015. Agrarians additionally bear the costs due to the simple carriages in the ports and on the entrances to them, and also pay fines due to violation of the terms of delivery for export contracts, due to the shortage of cars and locomotive draft in “Ukrzaliznytsya”.

Such a situation combined with unpredictable increase in tariffs negatively affects budget planning and business activity of enterprises in the field of agroindustrial complex, causes significant losses to farmers, and also questions the status of Ukraine as a reliable partner to the international community.

Recall that domestic agricultural producers complain of logistical problems caused by lack of locomotives. Due to constant delays in the supply of cars, agrarians often break off foreign economic contracts. However, even when enterprises have a private car park, they still do not have time to quickly ship products due to the low turnover of cars. Therefore, the admission of private traction to the Ukrainian market will increase the turnover of grain carriages and the uninterrupted export of agrarian products.