It is necessary to comprehensively weigh the initiative, discuss it with business and assess the extent of damage to the country’s economic security, the representatives of the mining industry believe.
A possible increase in tariffs for Ukrzaliznytsia railway transport will be a shock for businesses and lead to further losses. This is stated in a letter from the National Association of the Mining Industry of Ukraine to the head of UZ Evgeniy Lyashchenko, which is at the editors’ disposal.
It says the business is concerned because of the “planned and publicly announced increase in tariffs for cargo transportation by 20% by Ukrzaliznytsia JSC.”
“Another increase in tariffs for the transportation of goods against the backdrop of war, destruction, lack of investment, lack of personnel due to mobilization, loss of sea exports, etc. creates another surprising effect for the whole business, and especially for those that mainly carry out foreign trade activities and are the leaders in the payment of taxes and customs duties, and in foreign exchange earnings from exports. we will talk about the mining industry,” the letter said.
The Association states that “the scale of the crisis in what used to be the most profitable industry for the budget is incredible.”
“Today, under the conditions of a naval blockade and as a result of the total monopoly of the railways on the export of raw mineral materials of Ukraine, the further increase in tariffs by another 20% is driving the mining industry to a dead end. In this case, the transportation of extracted mineral raw materials becomes financially burdensome and unprofitable for Ukrainian users of the subsoil of the land “, warned the Association.
It is emphasized that the tariff increase will have a very negative impact on companies that procure construction materials – sand-gravel and brick-tile raw materials, gypsum, limestone, chalk, etc., that is, the raw materials necessary for the restoration of Ukraine and which, according to the Economic plan must be ensured with the aforementioned restoration at a level of at least 60% of Ukrainian production.
“The state is faced with a paradoxical situation: it is trying to increase the localization of the production of its own construction materials in order to restore the country, but at the same time, it is made impossible because of the high tariffs for their transportation to production ,” the Association noted.
They believe that thorough work should be carried out to assess the risks and the impact of this decision on the economic security of Ukraine.
“The preparation for this decision should be carried out more rationally, especially considering the exclusive and monopolistic status of Ukrzaliznytsia, carefully, and in business communication – which, by the way, was not observed in during last year’s increase,” the Association summarized.
We remind you that recently information appeared about the intention of Ukrzaliznytsia to increase tariffs for cargo transportation by 20%. A year ago, in July, the company increased tariffs by 70% – this led to an increase in the cost of Ukrainian products and a decrease in business production volumes, even in conditions where exporters have no alternative routes.
During the eight months of this year, compared to the same period in 2022, the transportation of coal decreased by 15%, oil and ferrous metals – by 22%. The worst situation is the transportation of ore, iron, manganese and coking coal – the transportation of these minerals decreased by 38%.
At the same time, Ukrzaliznytsia promised not to increase freight transportation tariffs in 2023.
Source: korrespondent
I’m Liza Grey, an experienced news writer and author at the Buna Times. I specialize in writing about economic issues, with a focus on uncovering stories that have a positive impact on society. With over seven years of experience in the news industry, I am highly knowledgeable about current events and the ways in which they affect our daily lives.