Ukrzaliznytsia Is Ready to Intensify Transportation Across Western Borders

After the Russian Federation announced its withdrawal from the "grain deal," the role of the railway in grain transportation may increase again. Ukrzaliznytsia is ready for this scenario. Valery Tkachev, Deputy Director of the Department of Commercial Work of Ukrainian Railways, said that this time, the company is better prepared for such a volume of traffic than in the spring of 2022.

During the work of the "grain deal," Ukrzaliznytsia worked to improve the infrastructure. Previously, grain terminals at the borders could serve about 200 wagons with agricultural products per day. As of November 2022, the throughput capacity has been increased by almost 3 times – up to 580 wagons. The number of terminals was increased, and agricultural business representatives played a significant role in this.

In September-October 2022, the capabilities of the railway were not fully exploited. During the active work of the "grain deal," an average of 500 wagons were passed by rail every day. A significant part of the grain was sent through the seaports of Ukraine.

As of November 2022, there are 13 cargo border crossings at the borders with 5 neighboring countries. Ukrzaliznytsia plans to further increase the number of grain terminals. The next crossing will be opened on the border with Moldova, on the section Berezina - Basarabeasca.

Valery Tkachev said that in early October, a meeting was held with representatives of the Moldovan railway. Then an agreement was reached to open a cargo terminal at the Basarabeasca station. Also, in November-December 2022, 3 more border crossings should be opened. This will include a terminal on the Rava-Ruska-Grebenne section, as well as additional crossings at the Starzhava-Krostsenko (Poland) and Dilove-Valea-Visheului (Romania) stations.

Ukrainian Railways said the border crossings were not being used to full capacity and turned to businesses to ensure maximum capacity. Farmers use the terminals unevenly at the moment, concentrating only on individual crossings. For its part, Ukrzaliznytsia will provide all the necessary data to exporters.