The National Association of the Mining Industry of Ukraine (NADPU) has appealed to Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko to prevent an increase in tariffs for rail freight transportation in 2026, as it will have critical consequences for the mining industry, the economy and the country's defense capability.

This is stated in a letter from NADPU, which is also addressed to Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kuleba, Minister of Finance Sergei Marchenko, Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Alexey Sobolev and Chairman of the State Regulatory Service Alexey Kucher.

“A further increase in already high railway tariffs without systematic work to end the practice of cross-subsidizing passenger transportation, resolving the issue of increasing the cargo base of Ukrzaliznytsia, significantly optimizing the costs of Ukrzaliznytsia and steps to reform the structure of Ukrzaliznytsia itself could have negative consequences for the mining industry and in general for the defense capability of Ukraine,” the letter says..

The association emphasizes: the main problem of Uzbekistan is not freight tariffs, but the chronic unprofitability of passenger transportation. According to NADPU, in 2025, losses in the passenger segment amounted to UAH 20 billion, and in 2026 they are projected to reach UAH 25 billion..

“This problem of unprofitability of passenger transportation is not systematically solved, and every year UZ shifts losses onto the cargo segment,” note the authors of the letter.

This model has already become critical for business, since enterprises have lost the “margin of safety” that they had before the war, and transportation volumes directly depend on the cost of logistics. At the same time, Ukrzaliznytsia every time chooses “the simplest, but short-sighted path” - another increase in tariffs, indicate the NADPU.

“Without resolving systemic issues, Ukrzaliznytsia will continue to lose its cargo base and raise tariffs again - and this is the path to the abyss. While the EU is creating incentives for the return of goods to the railway as a more environmentally friendly mode of transport,” the Association noted.

According to NADPU estimates, logistics in the mining industry already forms about 40% of production costs. A further increase in tariffs will reduce the competitiveness of Ukrainian goods on international markets - which will entail a reduction in production, the closure of enterprises and a drop in tax revenues to the budget..

“According to preliminary estimates, the overall negative impact of such a decision on Ukraine’s GDP will be measured in the amount of minus UAH 100 billion and minus UAH 36 billion in tax revenues. In addition, a decrease in economic activity will hit local budgets and create additional risks for financing the defense needs of the state,” the association noted..

NADPU also drew attention to the internal problems of Ukrzaliznytsia itself: in the context of a reduction in traffic by more than 45% compared to 2021, labor productivity in the company is now 20% lower than before the full-scale war. Increasing labor productivity will significantly save the enterprise money and optimize available resources.

In the appeal, the association called on the government to prevent tariff increases in 2026 and to instruct the relevant ministries and Ukrzaliznytsia management to work out a set of measures to stabilize the situation.

Among the proposed steps are an increase in the cargo base, full government financing of passenger transportation in 2026, optimization of company costs and attraction of assistance from international partners..

“The state must take responsibility and provide the necessary funding to stabilize the work of Ukrzaliznytsia and protect the interests of citizens who use passenger transportation, and businesses that are no longer able to cover the growing losses on their own,” the NASP concluded.