Alona Lebedieva: Where Is the Line Between Supporting the Population and Economic Irresponsibility?
Alona Lebedieva
Ukrzaliznytsia explained that the 3,000 km limit was not chosen randomly: it symbolically covers the longest railway route in Ukraine round-trip — from Zaporizhzhia to Uzhhorod and back. The program is therefore intended to encourage people to travel more across the country and, as stated, ease pressure during peak passenger demand periods. The company is currently considering what to do with unused kilometers.
“Unfortunately, all of this looks like large-scale pre-election populism. The President has instructed the government to develop an entire package of ‘winter support programs for the population’ — and once again, it is about distributing budget funds ‘to everyone at once’: pensioners, large families, residents of frontline territories, and so on, plus the promise not to raise gas and electricity tariffs for households. And the idea of ‘UZ-3000’ provides yet another ‘freebie’ — despite the fact that Ukrzaliznytsia is in a difficult financial situation, and the state has already taken UAH 8 billion from Kyiv and allocated it to UZ to save it from bankruptcy,” notes Alona Lebedieva, owner of the Ukrainian diversified industrial and investment group Aurum Group.
In 2024, the losses from international, long-distance, and suburban passenger transportation together amounted to 89% of the profits generated by freight transportation. At the same time, international passenger transportation is profitable (the amount is small, but still positive). If we consider only the losses from long-distance and suburban passenger services, they equaled 90.5% of the profits from freight transportation.
“In developed economies such as the EU and the United States, the logic is the opposite: households pay market prices for utilities and transport, while businesses have competitive tariffs that enable job creation, wage growth, and budget revenues,” says Lebedieva.
In Ukraine, however, businesses are burdened with maximum tariffs, while households receive minimal ones — as a result, businesses lose competitiveness, pass these costs onto prices, wages do not grow, tax revenues decrease, and inflation rises.
“In other words, the state is once again playing political populism instead of pursuing economic responsibility. And this is not even taking into account the fact that each such ‘generosity’ diverts resources from the defense sector, where funding must be unconditional,” she emphasizes.
Still, there is at least one positive aspect: the public reaction to the news about “3,000 km for everyone” showed that Ukrainians have become much more mature. There is less euphoria and more critical thinking, an understanding of the cost of state support, budget logic, and the consequences of populism. Ukrainians are increasingly behaving not as a “population” rejoicing at handouts, but as responsible citizens who count taxes and think about the country’s economy.
Alona Lebedieva
Aurum Group
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