The proposed increase in Ukrzaliznytsia's freight tariffs, which will take effect in 2026, threatens to significantly worsen the economy of the agricultural sector and accelerate the transition of agricultural products from rail to road transport. It is expected that transportation costs will increase by 27% starting January 1, 2026.

This was announced by Mykhailo Sokolov, the UAC Deputy Chairman, during the conference “Agribusiness in Ukraine.”

"Everyone understands how the domestic price of agricultural products is formed. It is tied to export parity — logistics costs and the trader's margin are deducted from the export price. Therefore, for farmers, the increase in Ukrzaliznytsia's tariffs is actually something like an ‘additional tax’. Why a ‘tax’? Because we still have cross-subsidization, and it remains in place, and cross-subsidization is a tax. It turns out that farmers are not paying for services or their cost, but for making it cheaper for someone else. At the same time, according to Ukrzaliznytsia itself, the tariff for grain was profitable. We believe that cross-subsidization must be stopped once and for all," Sokolov emphasized.

The Ukrainian Agri Council calculated how much the increase in UZ tariffs would cost agricultural producers and compared it with other industries.

"For wheat, with very low yields, this is approximately two times the single tax rate for the fourth group. And for corn, it is actually the minimum tax per hectare. This raises the question of why Ukrzaliznytsia continues to transport construction materials at a loss, even though there is no external competition in this industry. They keep the tariff for them, but give an inflated one for agricultural products, thereby reducing the competitiveness of the agricultural sector in the foreign market. We understand that due to the difficult situation of Ukrzaliznytsia, tariffs will increase, but it is time to stop the situation where one industry subsidizes another," emphasized the UAC Deputy Chairman.

Maintaining tariff imbalances will also lead to an accelerated transition of agricultural products from rail to road transport.

“We may indeed reach a point where half, or perhaps even more, of agricultural products will be transported by road. And this will harm everyone — Ukrzaliznytsia, the state, and the agricultural sector,” Mykhailo Sokolov concluded.