Business Loses Tariff Dispute with JSC Ukrainian Railways

Over the past year, a heated dispute has taken place between the business community and Joint Stock Company Ukrainian Railways (JSC Ukrainian Railways) over the proposed increase in freight rail transportation tariffs (see the News section dated 11 September, 22 October, 14 November, and 2 December 2025, as well as 27 April, 9, 29 and 30 June, and 20 July 2026).

The main arguments put forward by JSC Ukrainian Railways were:

• – producer price inflation has more than doubled since the last tariff indexation in June 2022;
• – significant increases in the cost of fuel, electricity, equipment, materials, spare parts, and repair works;
• – almost daily destruction of railway infrastructure and the need for its rapid restoration;
• – workforce shortages.

The key arguments presented by the business community were:

• – the potential negative impact on the economy could outweigh the additional revenue that JSC Ukrainian Railways expects to generate from the tariff increase;
• – higher freight transportation tariffs would lead to increased prices for end consumers;
• – the financial challenges faced by JSC Ukrainian Railways should not be addressed at the expense of freight shippers;
• – instead of increasing transportation tariffs, JSC Ukrainian Railways should focus on resolving its internal operational problems.

To ensure the stable operation of JSC Ukrainian Railways, the company initially proposed a 45% increase in freight transportation tariffs. Following consultations with the largest freight shippers, industry associations, and other market participants, a compromise was reached: the tariff increase would be implemented in two stages—30% from 1 August 2026 (Stage 1) and a further 15% from 1 January 2027 (Stage 2).

As a result, Order No. 1449 of the Ministry for Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport of Ukraine, dated 23 July 2026 (registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 24 July 2026 under No. 1066/46460), introduced amendments to the Coefficients Applied to the Tariffs of the Tariff Schedule for Freight Transportation by Rail within Ukraine and Related Services, originally approved by Order No. 317 of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Ukraine dated 26 March 2009, registered with the Ministry of Justice on 15 April 2009 under No. 341/16357, as amended by Order No. 441 of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine dated 22 June 2022. The coefficients have been set out in a new version.

The Order provides for:

• – a 30% indexation of freight rail transportation tariffs; and
• – the harmonisation of tariffs for the transportation of empty railcars.

The Order entered into force on the date of its official publication in the Government Courier (Uryadovyi Kurier) newspaper, Issue No. 159, dated 31 July 2026.

Accordingly, the updated coefficients are as follows:

No.	Cargo / Service	Cargo Code (Unified Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature of Goods)	Coefficient (effective from the date of official publication)
8	Crushed stone and railway ballast (crushed stone) for roads, perlite, sand, granite screenings, slag, ash, salt, mineral concentrate “Halite”	231072, 232253, 232272, 232395, 232408, 232412, 232427, 232431, 232446, 232450, 232465, 232472, 234047, 235, 236, 241464, 241479, 242128, 271, 341, 531	3.747

The previous coefficient was 2.882, introduced on 29 June 2022 pursuant to Order No. 441 of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, dated 22 June 2022.

Photo source: https://www.magnific.com/