ANTI-CRISIS HEADQUARTERS: NOT MORE THAN 2 MILLION CAN BE EXPORTED THROUGH UKRZALIZNYTSA. TON PER MONTH, AND AT LEAST 6.5 MILLION. TONE
In fact, railway transportation of the main items of Ukrainian exports - the products of the agricultural industry and the mining and metallurgical complex - is carried out at the level of 50-53% of the potential. There are many reasons for this - the need to expand and reconstruct existing checkpoints, create new ones, digitize processes, as well as work with foreign partners (Poland, Moldova, Romania, etc.).
This was emphasized by the participants of the meeting of the Anti-Crisis Headquarters for Business and Industry Assistance, operating at the USPP. The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Strategy and Industry, Ukrzaliznytsia, Nibulon, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine, etc.
A lot of concern among manufacturers and exporters was caused by a sharp increase in the tariff for transportation by Ukrzaliznytsia - as much as 70%. Business requires compensatory measures, because logistics costs are growing at a catastrophic rate. For example, in the mining and metallurgical complex, they grew from 40% to 3.5 times compared to pre-war levels. This was reported by Stanislav Zinchenko, director of the GMK-Center.
Mining and beneficiation plants have accumulated products in the amount of two months, it is extremely difficult to ship them to customers abroad on time. In general, the drop in production in this area reached 53%. If this issue is not resolved at the state level, with the involvement of all resources - railways, Danube ports, road transport - then the domestic MMC will lose the European market, and it will be replaced there by Brazil, South Africa, etc., which are increasing steel production.
"In any case, the ports will be unlocked now or not, but the expansion of railway, road crossing points, and river ports will be relevant steps and a successful investment. This is the diversification of logistics," the expert noted.
"We appeal to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the government as a whole - together with industrialists, think about ways to reduce the cost of freight transportation. First of all, this concerns speeding up border crossing - creation of an electronic queue, improvement of auctions for the use of wagons, etc., - stressed the president of the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Anatoly Kinakh.
Paradoxically, Ukraine is ready to increase the volume of railway transportation, but the problem is that the Western infrastructure is not ready to serve such volumes.
"Baltic ports, even Romania's, are small and it is difficult for them to serve Ukrainian exports in sufficient volumes on time. The same applies to railways, which in the EU are focused mainly on passenger transportation. At present, more or less in this regard, such barriers are solved by the Poles, so it is necessary to intensify diplomatic and professional work with other Western neighbors," stressed the members of the Anti-Crisis Headquarters.
Currently, Ukrzaliznytsia has representative offices in a number of European states neighboring Ukraine. Tries to solve problems on the ground. In Moldova, for example, it helps with the repair of tracks in the border zone in order to increase Ukrainian transit. Ukrainian specialists helped the Poles with the digitization of processes at crossing points.
Together with the Europeans and the USA, the initiative to build large transshipment terminals in the border areas is being considered. Ukraine would deliver products there, and the Europeans would continue their logistics to the ports or rail/road transport at their own pace.
There are also very innovative proposals - for example, to use one of the pipelines for the transportation of oil.
Serhiy Tikhonov, Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries, noted that the opening of 2 checkpoints in Transcarpathia in the direction of Hungary and Romania will allow doubling the export figures. According to him, European partners understand this, currently Romania has reserved 12 hectares of land for these purposes, etc.
Experts have also affected the Danube port infrastructure. According to Anatoly Kinakh, it shows excellent indicators in view of the existing opportunities. But still, this direction should be developed, in particular, adopted by the deepening of the river bed. According to the proposal of the MMC-Center, all port fees should be directed specifically to the modernization of the infrastructure.
The representative of Ukrzaliznytsia Tymofiy Murakhovskyi said that at the end of July, an electronic queue at checkpoints will be presented, so it will be easier for businesses to make decisions by tracking where there are problem areas and the speed of progress of queues there.
Among other proposals of experts of the Anti-Crisis Headquarters: initiation of phytosanitary control not at the border, but 20 km after its crossing (this way there will be no congestion from rolling stock at the crossing points); joint customs inspection; development of the Eurotrack on the Ukrainian side of the border, so that transshipment is carried out in us (it will be faster), etc.