The Logistics Committee of the European Business Association (EBA) has developed a number of proposals for the draft order of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development regarding the update of the freight car repair procedure. The business community also calls for the abolition of restrictions on the maximum service life of cars.
This is reported by Finway
New approaches to maintenance and operation of cars
Among the key initiatives of the EBA is the preservation of the identification number of the repair executor for transparent tracking of all repair work, ensuring the independence of organizations that carry out specialized diagnostics, as well as the implementation of a six-month transitional period before the new rules come into effect.
The business association pays special attention to the issue of abandoning the restriction on the operation of freight cars only for the service life established by the manufacturer. According to market participants, the possibility of further operation of rolling stock should be determined by its actual technical condition and remaining resource, which complies with international standards, particularly the practices of the USA and the EU. The current system, according to the EBA, leads to an increase in logistics costs.
“Business believes that the possibility of further use of rolling stock should be determined by its actual technical condition and the availability of remaining resources that comply with international practices of the USA and the EU.”
Discussions with the railway industry and financial issues
During a recent meeting of the EBA Logistics Committee with representatives of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia,” the issue of optimizing costs for shippers and reforming the railway infrastructure was discussed. Special emphasis was placed on steps to reduce cross-subsidization between the freight and passenger transport segments.
The Director of the Strategy and Transformation Department of “Ukrzaliznytsia,” Oleg Yakovenko, presented the results of a two-year experimental project aimed at reforming the financing of passenger transport. The state allocated 16 billion UAH from the reserve fund for this project.
In 2026, the state order covers only internal long-distance and regional railway connections. Meanwhile, the suburban segment, which is not funded from the state budget, generates about 11 billion UAH in losses annually, which are covered by profits from freight transport.
According to the results of the first quarter of 2026, according to “Ukrzaliznytsia,” the company completed 95% of the planned transport volume and 97% of the planned value. However, the main challenges remain the irregularity of receipts from the reserve fund, the lack of an effective cost accounting methodology, the issue of financing suburban transport, and uncertainty in budgeting for 2027.