From September 1, Ukrzaliznytsia will increase tariff rates and official salaries for more than 150 thousand employees by 10–15%. This was announced by the Minister for Reconstruction, Infrastructure and Transport of Ukraine Nikolai Kalashnik during a meeting with railway workers on Friday.

The decision primarily concerns industrial specialties: repairmen, teams for restoring tracks and infrastructure, as well as specialists ensuring the movement of trains. Ukrzaliznytsia has been short of technical workers and repair crews for many years due to low salaries, and their workload has increased significantly due to constant shelling and the need to restore damaged infrastructure.

According to Kalashnik, additional funds for increasing salaries appeared after the indexation of freight tariffs. The next tariff revision is scheduled for January 1, 2027, which may allow wage increases to continue next year.

On average, salaries will increase by 1.5–2 thousand. UAH. Currently, the base salaries of ordinary workers, in particular track workers, car inspectors, electricians and repairmen, range from 6 to 18 thousand. UAH per month. These amounts do not include bonuses for length of service, night shifts and other additional payments, so the actual income of individual workers may be higher.

For a company that operates under martial law and has unprofitable passenger transportation, increasing salaries will mean additional costs of hundreds of millions of hryvnias.. For workers, an increase of UAH 1,500–2,000 will only partially compensate for annual inflation and is unlikely to make working on the railway much more attractive.

This news also sparked debate online. Users pay attention to the difference between the salaries of ordinary railway workers and payments to members of the company's supervisory board. Members of the supervisory board of Ukrzaliznytsia actually receive monthly remuneration. Data on payments to Sergei Leshchenko and other members of the council were repeatedly published in their declarations and reports of Ukrzaliznytsia.. Depending on taxation and participation in commissions, these amounts are about 150–250 thousand. UAH per month. In particular, Leshchenko’s income is about 186 thousand. UAH " This is more than 10 times the salary of an ordinary worker even after a raise.

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" However, its staff is being reduced. Over the year, the number of employees decreased by 5%, and since the beginning of a full-scale war, the company has lost 27% of its personnel. The financial condition of Ukrzaliznytsia is affected by Russian shelling, rising energy costs, as well as a reduction in transportation volumes. For the first quarter of 2026, the company suffered losses of about UAH 7.9 billion.

Unprofitable passenger transportation remains a separate problem. In 2025, their losses were planned at UAH 22 billion, and previously profits from freight transportation made it possible to compensate for this deficit. To increase the company's revenues, from August 1, UZ increased freight tariffs by 30%, and from January 1, 2027 they should increase by another 15%.