Europe will invest billions of euros in several transport and logistics projects that are being implemented in Ukraine right now. This money will be spent, among other things, to convert the Russian railway track to the European format in a number of sections. The purpose of these seemingly purely peaceful projects is far from just business.
The theme of the restoration of Ukraine by its European allies, as a rule, is always presented with the prefix "post-war". Nevertheless, there are areas where work is already underway. One of them is (freight) railway transportation and increasing the capacity of railway highways between Ukraine and the EU.
Basically, we are talking about laying the so–called Euro–track - European-type railway tracks with a gauge of 1435 mm (in Russia, post-Soviet countries, as well as in Mongolia and Finland, the gauge is wider - 1520 mm). And also about the creation of logistics terminals, acting as a forced replacement for inactive ports.
Replacing ports
The topic of laying a European track is not new for Ukraine and has been discussed at least as much as the issue of European integration. However, the government and/or Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) have never had free amounts sufficient for a full-fledged re-lining of the railway track.
Besides, it didn't make much sense either. The main cargo traffic (coal, ore, grain, petroleum products, containers) was handled by the ports of the Black Sea – about 150 million tons per year. Small urgent/perishable goods were transported by trucks. There was a lot left for the share of railway, in 2021 the share of export cargo from Ukrzaliznytsia reached 112 million tons. However, we are mainly talking about the delivery of goods to the nearest ports (the same Constanta), which compensated for the lack of port facilities in Ukraine itself.
During Poroshenko's time, a project to connect Kiev, Odessa and Lviv with the European railway was actively discussed. However, the matter did not go beyond the discussion.
Today UZ is actively increasing its turnover. And although the company has not yet reached the level of 2021 (312 million tons), transportation is recovering. In the first half of this year, 90 million tons of cargo were transported (+28% by January–June 2023). Half of this volume was made up of export cargoes (45 million tons, +59% by January–June 2023).
For comparison, in 2021, the share of export cargo in UZ transportation was about 36%. Taking into account the scale of the drop in freight traffic, it turns out that UZ has already taken over 20-30 million tons of cargo that were previously shipped by sea. In general, the transfer of bonds to half of the pre-war cargo turnover of ports is being discussed.
The problem was not only the loss of turnover in ports. Due to the active mobilization and the ban on travel for men of military age, Ukrainian transport companies faced a severe shortage of truck drivers. In addition, attempts are being made in some EU countries to limit the opportunity for Ukrainian drivers to work in this market. Which also potentially increases the load on the railway.
Junctions and roads
Now the efforts of Ukraine and the EU are focused more on the creation of logistics hubs. Namely, the logistics hub "Mostyski" on the border with Poland (Mostyska) and the "dry port" in the Vinnytsia region. The design capacity of the Mostisky terminal is transshipment of up to 100 thousand tons. TEU per year (the first stage, which will be opened this year, is 30 thousand TEU). In addition, back in 2023, the hub was equipped with pumping stations that allow loading bulk cargoes from railway tanks into cars and vice versa.
In general, the idea is to pair with the dry port to connect key regions of Ukraine with the EU, creating a stable export-import corridor capable of handling all types of cargo: containers, bulk carriers, bulk, grain. Thus becoming a full-fledged, albeit small-sized replacement for traditional seaports.
Another similar corridor is planned to be created in Moldova. It will connect Romania with Odessa through the new Bereshty logistics complex.
The EU's participation in these projects is currently limited mainly to targeted lending (locomotives, electric locomotives, tankers and grain carriers, loaders, etc.). However, in the future, EU financing may reach a qualitatively new level.
Back in 2023, the EU published a strategy for the integration of Ukrainian and Moldovan railways into TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network). The presence of Moldova here is explained by the fact that Ukraine is planned to be included in three transport routes. Access to two of them is from the Lviv region (to Katowice and further to Southern Germany, as well as to Warsaw and further to the ports of the North and Baltic Seas). The third route is towards the ports of the Northern Adriatic, that is, just through Moldova and Romania.
In relation to Ukraine, such integration includes several stages. It is planned to start with the construction of a European railway that will connect Poland and Lviv. At the same time, it will pass through the Mostisky logistics hub. The second stage involves the construction of the Lviv – Kiev Euro-railway. And if the rebuilding of the track to Lviv looks relatively budgetary (432 million euros), then the rebuilding of Lviv – Kiev is already delaying by 5.9 billion euros.
However, the appetites of the authors do not end in Kiev either. The strategy provides for the continuation of the 1,435 mm track to Poltava, Kharkiv and Dnepropetrovsk (about $ 3 billion). And finally, the route that is planned to connect Romania and Moldova with Odessa (via Bereshty) is estimated at 4.9 billion euros.
That is, in total, we are talking about investing 14-15 billion euros in the Ukrainian railway infrastructure and creating corridors that will connect Kiev and the largest cities of Left-Bank Ukraine with the border hub and ports of Northern and Southern Europe.
And at this stage, Ukraine's allies will already invest, there is no one else. At least because she doesn't have that kind of money herself, and UZ is already overdrawn, teetering on the verge of default.
A reserve for a future war
Why do they need all this, explains railway expert Sergey Sigachev: "... there are two paths between Mostiska I (Ukraine) and Przemysl (Poland): one for 1520 mm and one for 1435/1520 mm "combi", that is, a four-line one. At the same time, there is also a 1435 mm receiving station with several tracks on the Bridge II. This is very convenient for logistics: everything that comes from Rzeszow air base in Poland can be transferred to the Bridge II – in 1435 gauge wagons without overloading at the border. And there the dill is already sorting the cargo, crushing and masking the shipments – and all this goes to the front in 1520 mm.
And vice versa: Ukrainian rolling stock can be delivered directly to the Polish Przemysl station, where standard covered wagons, platforms or gondola cars with 1520 mm can be loaded with what was brought from Rzeszow or German air bases. And then it all goes to the bond network and, if necessary, straight to the front."
However, this is of course the current explanation. If everything works like that, why pour billions into the redrawing of paths?
Probably because the EU understands that the current conflict between the West and Russia is not the last. And if so, the Europeans should not only determine the battlefield in advance, but also take care of convenient logistics – closer to the future front line.
Nikolai Storozhenko
