The Government to encourage Ukraine’s car and locomotive building

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is going to foster domestic car and locomotive building so as to renew the rolling stock of Ukrzaliznytsia (the Ukrainian Railways). This was stated by the Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, during his visit to Cherkasy oblast, according to the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers.

“The development of high-quality railway connection and the renewal of Ukrzaliznytsia’s rolling stock are among the Government’s priorities. This is important not only to ensure the comfort of passengers, but also in the context of economic development and support for domestic manufacturers. We will encourage domestic car and locomotive building programs in Ukraine,” Mr Shmyhal underscored.

According to him, in the framework of the Big Construction program, it is planned to repair some 500 km of national roads in Cherkasy oblast until the end of 2021. Over the past two years, 700 km of highways were repaired.

The Prime Minister advocates the need for a gradual transfer of freight traffic to railways and rivers to reduce the load on roads.

“On the President’s initiative, a law on the development of river transport has been adopted and there is a phased strategy for transferring freight traffic to rivers,” the Prime Minister added.

The development of railway and river logistics is supposed to significantly increase the road life in Ukraine.

As GMK Center reported earlier, a decrease in production of freight cars was recorded in Ukraine in the recent years. In 2020, railway cars manufacturers made 3,241 units of rolling stock. This is 70.1% down from 2019. In January–June 2021, production of cars decreased by 41% to 943 units y-o-y.

In early 2021, inventory rolling stock of Ukrzaliznytsia consisted of more than 3.5 thousand locomotives, of which 2,022 units were in working condition.