Ukrzaliznytsia is asked to stop manipulating the artificial shortage of wagons

“Ukrzaliznytsia” is asked to approve a transparent procedure for conducting auctions for the use of wagons and to prevent manipulations with an artificial shortage.

Agrarians appealed to the authorities and management of the UZ with a request to stop manipulations to create an artificial shortage of wagons, says the statement of the Ukrainian Agricultural Association.

According to the announcement, it recently became known that “Ukrzaliznytsia” plans to change the conditions of auctions from January 19. One of the arguments for such a decision is that “anonymous” shippers insist on changes.

At the same time, the agricultural community has been emphasizing the high cost of renting wagons for three months already. UCAB stated that UZ officials are creating artificial conditions of shortage of supply of wagons on the market, thereby causing losses to real shippers-producers of grain.

“Due to the short-sighted policy of the UZ and the lack of regulations that would systematize the conduct of auctions for the lease of grain wagons, auctions turned into a manual tool for manipulation and enrichment of agrarians, who, in turn, found themselves in a hopeless situation and were forced to use the services of a monopolist. In addition, the increase in terms of approval of the electronic application only aggravates the situation, for which the shippers will also pay”, – emphasizes the general director of UCAB Oleg Khomenko.

Currently, there are no clear and understandable norms of who and on what basis determines the date of auctions and the number of cars on display.

UCAB appealed to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Antimonopoly Committee with a call not to allow manipulations to create an artificial shortage of UZ wagons, which are an indicator for the entire transportation market and lead to an overestimation of the cost of grain cargo transportation.