Ukrainian Railways boosts profitability thanks to passenger traffic

MOSCOW. Oct 17 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Railways has increased its profitability thanks to passenger traffic, though passenger transportation is still loss-making, Ukrainian Railways CEO Yevgeny Lyashchenko said.

"This is almost for the first time in many years that the level of the company's profitability has increased thanks to passenger traffic. And by the way, not only international train trips, but also certain domestic [train trips] are now profitable. For example, these are Intercity trains," Ukrainian media quoted him as saying.

In general, passenger transportation remains loss-making, as the loss of about 15 billion UAH is expected by the end of the year, he said.

The Ukrainian Railways revenue reached about 800 million UAH for the first nine months of 2023 from the ticket sales on trains to the Polish destinations alone, Lyashchenko said.

The company's revenue amounted to 4.76 billion UAH, according to preliminary results of the first half of the year. "Ukrainian Railways will finish the year as a profitable company," he said.

The financial plan for 2024 provides for an indexation of tariffs for freight transportation, Lyashchenko also said.