Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
🚫 Official fantasies of Minister Kalashnyk
During the Carpathian Summit, the Minister for Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport Mykolay Kalashnyk reported an agreement to secure 100 million dollars in grant funding under the RELINC project together with the IBRD.
These funds are allegedly planned to be used to purchase 60 used locomotives on foreign markets. But where would so many units come from? Not every locomotive can be operated in Ukraine without significant adaptation. The current supplier platform of Ukrzaliznytsia for this year lists needs for spare parts for 2TE10, 2TE116, M62, 2M62, TEP70, TEP150, as well as for VL series electric locomotives. Separately, American TE33AC locomotives are operated in Ukraine.
Therefore the most correct comparison is with countries where the same track gauge of 1520 mm has historically been preserved.
For example, Latvia. The state Latvian company LDZ CARGO sells locomotives of the same or related series used in Ukraine at open electronic auctions. In August, five 2TE10U diesel locomotives were put up for sale. Their starting price ranged from 184–210 thousand euros per locomotive.
Even if you take the highest of the starting prices — 60 such locomotives would cost about 12,6 million euros, or approximately 14,5 million dollars.
Meanwhile 100 million dollars — about 1,67 million dollars per one used locomotive. That is 7–12 times more than the cited starting prices for 2TE10U and 2M62U locomotives.
Even if you compare the declared financing volume with open prices for used locomotives of 1520 mm gauge in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia, as well as compatible rolling stock in Finland, where the 1524 mm gauge is used, Kalashnyk’s sum looks disproportionately high.
Open prices on the 1520 mm gauge market show such a significant gap with the declared financing volume that it may indicate a risk of substantial procurement overpricing. In other words, it may be that Kalashnyk is deliberately inflating prices for rail equipment.
💬 ABleaks_bot
💕 Join
Telegram publication
