„Ukrzaliznytsia“ is putting up for auction 490 freight wagons that have not been used for years, but continue to occupy railway infrastructure and generate costs. The sale is part of the company's largest cost optimization program in recent years, with an expected economic effect of 10.2 billion hryvnias.
The Ukrainian state railway company „Ukrzaliznytsia“ is starting the sale of hundreds of freight wagons that are unserviceable as part of a large-scale program to get rid of inefficient assets and reduce operating costs.
A total of 490 freight wagons have been offered for the first auctions in the electronic system Prozorro.Sale. They are divided into four lots of 120-130 units, and their total starting price amounts to at least 61.8 million hryvnias excluding VAT.
The auctions are scheduled for November 3.
Wagon cars that have not been used for years
The sale is part of the company's attempts to optimize its asset management at a time of serious pressure on the Ukrainian railway system.
The offered wagons have not been used for freight transport for years. However, they continue to occupy tracks and require maintenance costs.
Instead of first dismantling them and selling the individual materials, „Ukrzaliznytsia“ has chosen to offer the wagons as whole.
This approach should accelerate the release of assets and at the same time save costs and resources required for cutting, dismantling and subsequent storage.
Among the offered assets are gondola wagons, hopper wagons for mineral cargo and hopper wagons for cement.
Opportunity for the recycling and scrap metal business
Auctions also create opportunities for companies outside the railway sector.
Companies specializing in scrap metal processing and recycling, as well as other interested investors, can participate in them.
Thus, the operation has two sides – railways free up infrastructure and reduce costs for assets that no longer generate revenue, while the private sector gains access to a significant amount of material and equipment through a competitive procedure.
The model is an example of asset management, where value is sought not only in the operation of the equipment, but also in the way it is decommissioned at the end of its life cycle.
Savings program for 10.2 billion hryvnias
The sale of the wagons is only one part of a significantly larger financial program.
„The sale of the unusable wagons is part of the largest cost optimization program of „Ukrzaliznytsia“ in recent years, the expected economic effect of which is 10.2 billion hryvnias“, the company said company.
The need for savings comes at an extremely difficult time for Ukrainian Railways.
The draft state budget of Ukraine for 2027 provides for about 22.5 billion hryvnias in support of the activities of „Ukrzaliznytsia“. For comparison, in 2026 the amount is 28.5 billion hryvnias, and in 2025 - 17 billion hryvnias.
The company's financial stress test, prepared in connection with the preparation of the 2027 budget, shows that this year its activities are expected to be at a loss in all scenarios considered. In the base and positive scenarios, the railways could return to profit as early as 2027, while in the negative scenario this could happen only in 2029.
The freight business is under serious pressure
One of the big problems is the contraction of freight transport - traditionally a key source of revenue for the railways.
In the first half of 2026 alone, rail transport of cargo from the mining and metallurgical complex - iron ore, ferrous metals, coal, coke and flux limestone - decreased by 20% year-on-year, or 7.6 million tons, to 31.4 million tons.
Despite the decline, these cargoes continue to account for 42% of the total freight rail transport of „Ukrzaliznytsia“.
The situation further worsened in the second half of the year. The average daily loading on the railway network decreased from around 450,000 tons in July to below 250,000 tons in October. Among the reasons are problems with the operation of ports and Russian attacks on enterprises in the steel and coal industries.
From maintaining old assets to freeing up capital
The sale of 490 wagons will not in itself solve the financial problems of Ukrainian Railways. However, it indicates a change in the way the company manages its assets.
Instead of unusable equipment remaining on the balance sheet, occupying infrastructure and generating costs, it becomes an asset that can be monetized or recycled.
This is an approach that is applicable far beyond the railway sector. In industrial companies, significant funds can remain blocked in machinery, transport equipment, spare parts and other tangible assets that are no longer involved in production but continue to generate storage, maintenance and management costs.
For „Ukrzaliznytsia“ such optimization takes on even greater importance due to the war, declining freight volumes and the need for the state to support the railway system.
The first 490 wagons are therefore a relatively small sale given the scale of the company, but they are indicative of the larger task ahead of it – to free up resources from assets that cost money but no longer create value.