The situation is critical: metallurgists urge the Minister of Development to impose a moratorium on increasing railway tariffs.

The increase in freight transport tariffs by Ukrzaliznytsia will be disastrous for businesses that are already operating at a loss. This will lead to the closure of strategic manufacturing facilities, mass layoffs, and heightened social tension in the regions. Therefore, to stimulate the economy and prevent the industry from falling into crisis, it is essential to impose a moratorium on freight tariffs by UZ until the end of the war. This is stated in an open letter to the Minister of Development, Oleksii Kubel, from the largest metallurgical companies, including ArcelorMittal, Zaporizhstal, and Ukrainian mining and processing plants, as reported by UNIAN.

"According to available information, Ukrzaliznytsia and the Ministry of Development have begun preparing a draft order to raise freight transport tariffs by 37%. However, the current situation is extremely unfavorable for increasing freight rail tariffs, as the impact of the war on the mining and metallurgical enterprises and the already high logistics costs are steadily bringing the industry closer to a point where the consequences will become irreversible," the letter states.

Among the main challenges facing the industry are power outages due to attacks on energy infrastructure, a labor shortage caused by mobilization and migration, falling prices and production volumes, rising tariffs from monopolistic companies in the energy sector, and increased logistics costs. In this context, an additional increase in UZ freight tariffs would become a critical point.

"Raising tariffs on freight rail transport will deal a severe blow to the national economy and Ukraine's defense capabilities and will be catastrophic for the industrial enterprises of Ukraine. Among the consequences of this decision are the closure of enterprises, staff layoffs, reduced foreign currency earnings, and a decrease in export volumes," say metallurgists.

They have urged the Ministry of Development to assist Ukrzaliznytsia in finding internal reserves to optimize expenses, so as not to create excessive and unreasonable tariff pressure under current conditions, and to analyze the company's financial plan for this year to avoid inflated expenses that already pose a threat to the state of UZ.

"Currently, UZ has all the capabilities to maintain the current level of freight tariffs through expense optimization and the restoration of its freight base while remaining profitable. We urge the minister to consider that raising railway tariffs on freight transport under the current circumstances is unacceptable and to impose a moratorium on increasing UZ freight transport tariffs until the end of the war," the letter states.