About state policy …

90% of world trade goes by sea. This means that the Ukrainian railway should focus on the development of cooperation with Ukrainian ports – to increase throughput, ensure the electrification of the relevant infrastructure, provide traction and traffic control systems. What for? To deliver a Ukrainian product anywhere in the world.

Ukrainian railway

The majority of Ukrainian exports are raw materials. When transporting raw materials, railway is the optimal transport. And not just a railway, but its extensive network. Examples: USA, Canada, China, India, Brazil, Russia, Australia. To reduce the cost per ton of transported export products the experience of these railways have to be studied first of all.

Ukrainian imports are energy resources and value-added goods. The role of the railway is manifested in the transportation of oil and derivatives, and this is about supporting the infrastructure of Russia and Belarus. Intermodal transport is characterized mainly by products from China and related government support for the Silk Road. China is more interested in the history of containerization, and therefore the development of logistics centers is possible only at their expense, with compensation for losses from delays in the movement of Ukrainian products for export.

Let me explain. A container train needs a schedule and is equated to a passenger train. It is the priority of passenger traffic that slows down the freight, and, accordingly, the promotion of the Ukrainian product. And this is about the economy.

Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, South Korea give preference to the passenger railway. Their national product reaches the port by road (distance up to 300 km.). The EU is interested in the Silk Road, but not as strongly as China.

For the EU, the main goals in the development of the railway are precisely the integration of the participating countries through population mobility (between the capitals of the respective countries) and the ability to receive a product from China and send its own (a route through Belarus and the Russian Federation has been established). To achieve these goals, the tools of “conditional” implementation of competition on the railway network, increasing the interoperability and safety of national railway networks, and the development of 1435mm space are used. Perhaps the countries, which the Silk Road passes through, receive more funding from the EU budget than the likes of Bulgaria, Hungary and Cyprus?

Surprisingly, the EU’s “integration” directives stretch over the internal activities of the Ukrainian railways. This does not lead to integration (for example, why does no one say that the Ukrainian railway does not become a carrier to the LHS but does not transport its own cargo to Slavkuv?), On the contrary, it weakens the influence of the state and creates the preconditions for the entry of carriers from 1520 space.

If we talk about integration, then this is about the development of the 1435 network on the territory of Ukraine, or 1520 on the EU territory, or about the simplification of procedures for the movement of goods from Ukraine to the EU and vice versa. Moreover, here is the creation of competition on the internal network of Ukrainian railways … if the main standard – track 1520 – does not contribute to the integration of European carriers into the Ukrainian market (I do not take into account companies with European jurisdiction and non-European capital).

The Ukrainian Railway is integrated into the 1520 space. Trade ties, standards, language, and most importantly, track gauge. Yes, it’s about global politics. But today the old is being destroyed, without the guarantees of the new. Perhaps the Ukrainian state needs to start implementing its own policy, where the promotion of the Ukrainian product will be in the first place?

P.S. And this is not about the passenger!

Alexander Tkachuk
Alexander Tkachuk
CEO “Quadro Center”
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