Expert comments on reforms at Ukrzaliznytsia

During Wojciech Balczun's tenure as head of Ukrzaliznytsia, there have been no prerequisites for railroad reform.

Viktor Medvid, director of the William Invest consulting company, said this in a commentary to GolosUA.

"There are no prerequisites for railroad reform. So far, Balchun has not even announced a reform plan. For example, on the speed of rolling stock movement or improving their quality of service. Therefore, we can say that Balchun is not a qualified specialist," Medved said.

According to the expert, Balchun is unlikely to be prosecuted for failure to fulfill his official duties.

"After all, he was appointed without the necessary competition. Many laws and rules do not work in our country, so talking about bringing Balchun to justice is pure populism," Medved said.

According to the expert, Ukrzaliznytsia should not have raised transportation prices, but rather streamlined the railroad's finances and overcome corruption.

"To remove the corruption component, we need to introduce competition. That is, competition for the operation of the railroad track. Other companies should also offer their trains. None of these items are in Balchun's program," Medved said.

The expert noted that the increase in transportation tariffs will not change the quality of services on trains.

"Under the current model, even a tenfold increase in prices will not bring anything positive. After all, they will use this money instantly. As a result, the quality of services provided will not improve," Mr. Medved emphasized.

Balchun said that the reform of Ukrzaliznytsia would take years and that systemic changes would be possible only with unconditional political support.