Ukrainian Railways transported more than 150 million tons of cargo last year, signalling a drop of 52,1 per cent compared to 2021. Despite the significant decrease, the company that kept operating at full steam amidst the war considers the results positive, especially regarding grain transport volumes that remained relatively high in the current challenging context.

According to Ukrainian media, the company’s yearly results were discussed during an online meeting, including participants from the agricultural industry. Valeriy Tkachev, deputy director of the commercial affairs department at Ukrainian Railways, stressed that despite a drop in all types of cargo, grain export volumes dropped the least compared to 2021, experiencing a decrease of 14,2 per cent.

Almost 29 million tons of transported grain

Tkachev highlighted that grain exports were more successful than expected. With almost 29 million tons of transported grain (28,871,300 tons), and an average of 1 million transported tons per month via the western border crossings, he expressed hopes that 2023 will be an even better year.

That is because December provided some space for optimism. In the final month of 2022, Ukraliznytsia’s volumes dropped by 0,4 million tons compared to November. That occurred mainly due to military attacks in Ukraine’s power grid and infrastructure that forced Ukrainian Railways to slow down their trains.

However, the transportation of grain, oil products, fertilisers, chemicals, salt, and engineering products increased. Specifically, grain transport volumes increased by 18,8 per cent compared to November, exceeding the previous month’s figures by half a million tons.

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