An increase in freight tariffs of Ukrzaliznytsia will lead to an increase in thermal generation costs during the period of repairs, fuel accumulation and preparation for the heating season. This was stated by the Vice President for Energy Issues of the Ukrainian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Ukraine) Alexander Trokhimets.

According to him, only the additional income of Ukrzaliznytsia cannot be taken into account in the tariff discussion.. For the energy sector, the railway is, first of all, an opportunity to timely deliver coal to Ukrainian thermal power plants.

" Coal doesn't just have to be mined.. It still needs to be delivered on time and at a predicted cost to the warehouses of Ukrainian thermal power plants,” Trokhimets emphasized..

He explained that more expensive rail transportation will automatically increase the cost of fuel delivery. As a result, energy companies will have to spend more on logistics precisely when money is needed to restore damaged equipment, repair power units and stockpile supplies for the winter..

“After all, you can improve the financial performance of one state company, but at the same time increase the costs of thermal generation, create new risks and accidentally disrupt the country’s preparations for winter,” warned Trokhimets.

In his opinion, the decision to increase tariffs should be assessed not only from the point of view of the financial condition of Ukrzaliznytsia, but also taking into account the consequences for the energy sector and the stable passage of the heating season.

Earlier, the president of the Ukrmetallurgprom association, Alexander Kalenkov, emphasized that the increase in freight tariffs of Ukrzaliznytsia will worsen the situation of mining and metallurgical enterprises. According to him, some of them have already stopped or reduced production.