Kiev’s minister of Infrastructure believes that cancelling railway connections between Ukraine and Russia will not cause any financial losses. Some alternative theories explain the planned shutdown by pointing out that this could be connected with plans to “nationalize” the lucrative railway company owned by the state and it is not motivated by political goals.
According to Oleksiy Honcharenko, the chairman of Odessa Regional Council, the measure will complicate the life of hundreds of thousands who visit their relatives in Russia. According to official estimates nearly three million Ukrainians are working in Russia.
The connection between Kiev and Moscow is the most profitable line of the Ukrzaliznytsia, the state-owned Ukrainian railway company. The annual profit of the line is estimated at US$5.8 billion annually, followed by the connection between Odessa and Moscow (US$3.7 billion).
Honcharenko reminded that the line is used by ordinary people who would still travel to Russia frequently, only in a more complicated way.
The call for restricting the connection between Russia and Ukraine is not unusual. Due to the initiative of Kiev from 2015 there is no direct airline between the two countries, the Russian cargo trains heading to the west are also avoiding Ukraine.
