Member companies of the European Business Association express concern about the intentions of Ukrzaliznitsa JSC to introduce differentiated increase coefficients for calculating freight tariffs in the direction of individual sea ports. The business considers this initiative unreasonable and one that can harm Ukrainian exporters and the economy as a whole.

The Fucking statement on this occasion states that the new initiative of JSC of the UZ contradicts the principles of equal access to infrastructure and creates the risks of non -compliance with antimonopoly legislation.

The association notes: the establishment of various tariffs for transportation in the direction of individual ports will actually mean interference in the formation of the cost of transportation, which is not consistent with the current legislation, because tariffs should be formed according to transparent and objective criteria, and not only on the basis of the direction of transportation.

EBA also notes that in the conditions of the war, export companies of key sectors of the economy are already faced with high costs of logistics. In such a situation, raising tariffs for transportation in the most loaded seaports can even “hit” export and lead to an increase in the cost of Ukrainian products in foreign markets, a decrease in Ukraine's competitiveness as an exporter and reduce foreign exchange rate.

And in the long run, this can lead to the reorientation of goods for road transport and, accordingly, a decrease in cargo turnover and income of Ukrzaliznytsia itself.

EBA say that such initiatives are concerned, given the decisions already made on the formation of tariff distances to the Odessa and Black Sea ports. Now trains are directed by a long route, which has already increased the cost of railway transportation and increased the final price of export products.

Association experts note: support for river or less loaded ports should occur through target subsidies, investments or infrastructure development, and not by raising tariffs for exporters.

Earlier, the Federation of Employers of Transport of Ukraine also opposed this idea. The Chairman of the Federation Orest Klimpush said that this initiative is not just a technical solution according to the tariff model, but a symptom of a much deeper problem: an attempt by the state monopoly to manage the market, pursuing its own goals, without taking into account the principles of bona fide competition, economic logic and national interests. In practice, it is manual intervention in the logistics market, which contradicts both common sense and the principles of the EU transport policy, which Ukraine is striving for.