Ukrzaliznytsia's plans to increase freight tariffs by 30% will significantly increase the cost of agricultural products, and at two stages of the production cycle at once - when purchasing resources for sowing and when exporting crops.

This was stated by the owner and director of the logistics company TEUS Dmitry Kazanin, commenting on the project for revising railway tariffs released by the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development.

According to the expert, the main problem is not so much the increase in tariffs itself, but the fact that it is imposed on the already significantly increased cost of agricultural production. In recent years, the agricultural sector has already faced rising costs of fertilizers, fuel, lending, insurance, staff shortages, war risks and the need to rebuild logistics.

Kazanin notes that the current tariff initiative creates a double-burden effect for farmers: a significant part of fertilizers enters Ukraine through seaports and is delivered by rail to farms, and after harvesting, producers again use the railroad to transport grain to ports or border crossings. Thus, the transport component grows both when purchasing resources and when selling finished products.

The expert noted that Ukrzaliznytsia operates in war conditions and is faced with an objective increase in costs for electricity, fuel, infrastructure repairs and ensuring uninterrupted operation. However, in his opinion, the revision of tariffs should be accompanied by an increase in the efficiency of the carrier, and not just a change in prices for services.

“If the tariff policy is accompanied by an increase in the speed of transportation, a reduction in downtime, an improvement in the turnover of wagons, the development of infrastructure and an increase in the capacity of routes to ports, then the business is ready to adapt to new conditions. If only the cost of transportation increases without improving the efficiency of the system, the additional burden on the export economy will only increase,” the expert noted.

As is known, according to a survey on the Agronews website, 80% of farmers are convinced that farmers will pay twice for the new tariffs of Ukrzaliznytsia: grain will be bought cheaper, and fertilizers and fuel will become more expensive.

Earlier, Ukrainian industrial, transport and sectoral associations appealed to Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko and the head of the Presidential Office Kirill Budanov with an appeal to prevent an unreasonable increase in Ukrzaliznytsia's freight tariffs in 2026: they reported that an increase of 30% would lead to a loss of UAH 96 billion of GDP per year, reducing the freight base of Ukrzaliznytsia by.