In the first quarter of 2026, Ukrzaliznytsia incurred losses of approximately 7.9 billion hryvnias. The main factors affecting the company’s financial results were massive attacks from the Russian Federation, a reduction in transportation volumes, and a significant increase in energy resource prices. Despite the challenges, the railway workers managed to ensure the continuous movement of trains and maintain tariffs for passengers and businesses at unchanged levels.
This is reported by Finway
Impact of attacks and rising energy resource prices on Ukrzaliznytsia’s operations
In the first three months of the year, the railway infrastructure suffered 541 attacks, which accounts for half of all shelling in 2025. As a result of the strikes, 1,718 facilities were damaged and 28 company employees were injured. Consequently, Ukrzaliznytsia had to temporarily change or reduce routes, leading to a 10% decrease in the number of passengers in long-distance transport to 5.8 million people.
The situation was further complicated by the rise in energy resource prices. The purchase price of diesel fuel increased by almost 50%, while electricity prices rose by 52% due to massive shelling of energy infrastructure. This resulted in additional costs for Ukrzaliznytsia amounting to 2.58 billion UAH. Due to disruptions in electricity supply, freight transportation volumes decreased by 6.4%, totaling 34.8 million tons in the first quarter.
“In just 3 months, the enemy inflicted 541 strikes on railway facilities (which is half of the total number of attacks in 2025), resulting in damage to 1,718 facilities and injuries to 28 railway workers.”
Anti-crisis measures and further development
To stabilize the situation, the company implemented a strict savings regime: for the second consecutive year, employee salaries are not indexed, and investments in development are maximally limited. At the same time, Ukrzaliznytsia is actively implementing an operational efficiency improvement program worth over 10.2 billion UAH. In particular, the company has accelerated the sale of scrap metal, the leasing of spaces through Prozorro, and the divestment of non-core assets.
An important step was the introduction of an experimental state order for passenger transportation, allowing the state to compensate for the difference between tariffs and the actual cost of tickets. Ukrzaliznytsia is also expanding its summer route network and moving seven popular routes to a daily schedule to meet passenger demand even under challenging conditions.