Ukraine may lose 18 thousand railcars due to ARMA tender

The ARMA is looking for a manager for 18,000 seized Russian railcars currently used by Ukrzaliznytsia. There is a risk that the new manager could return the cars to Russia, which would deprive Ukrzaliznytsia of half of its fleet for the transportation of fuel and defense orders.

This is stated in a letter from the Federation of Transport Employers of Ukraine (FTU) to Olena Duma, head of the National Agency for Finding, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA), and Oleksiy Kuleba, Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine.

The letter states that since the transfer of the railcars,Ukrzaliznytsia has been effectively using them for transportation, which allows it to cover the shortage of rolling stock caused by the loss of railcars in the occupied territories. The state, through Ukrzaliznytsia, receives a stable income from their use at market rates, and also provides defense transportation, fuel transportation (more than 50% of such transportation is carried out by these cars) and support for social transportation.

The FRTU emphasized that keeping the railcars at the disposal of Ukrzaliznytsia is critical for the stable operation of rail logistics and meeting Ukraine's defense needs. Transferring the cars to third-party managers could cause logistical disruptions, as it is currently impossible to replace this rolling stock.

In addition, the FRTU points to the risk that the new managers will not invest in the maintenance of the cars, which will lead to their rapid depreciation. There is also a threat of losing railcars altogether.

It should be added that in a previous tender held by ARMA for almost five hundred railcars, a company with no experience in managing a railcar fleet and no railcar repair contracts was selected as the manager.

Ірина Глухова