In 2025, the Production Support Center branch of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia carried out a large-scale purchase of railway equipment worth over 500 million hryvnias. The main winner of the tender was JSC DnSZ (EDRPOU code 146367980), which won three lots for almost 420 million. This company is a regular participant in similar tenders, usually the only one.
Analysis of the tender documentation indicates its purposeful secrecy: 286 pages of technical requirements, which are difficult to analyze in 10 days - this was the submission deadline. Moreover, the technical conditions are formulated in such a way that in fact only one manufacturer can fulfill them. For example, the mandatory requirement to supply OR50 tips for P50 type rails - these are parts that are not manufactured by any other certified manufacturer.
The cost of the products also raises reasonable doubts. P50/1/9 crosspieces were purchased at UAH 184,240 per unit — 20–50% more expensive than the average market prices, which start at UAH 120,000. At the same time, a decrease in prices for steel — the main raw material for this equipment — was recorded on international markets. In dollar terms, the cost of purchases in 2025 increased by 8% — without economic explanation.
Obvious signs of manipulation, collusion, or at least official negligence on the part of officials did not cause any reaction from the regulatory authorities. Neither the Antimonopoly Committee nor the State Audit Service recorded any violations, the procurement was completed and financed from the budget.
Thus, Ukrzaliznytsia implemented a scheme typical of many state-owned enterprises: creating documentation for “their own”, eliminating potential competitors, overstating the cost and, as a result, millions of hryvnias of taxpayers end up at the disposal of related companies. At the same time, the real modernization of the railway is once again postponed.
