Plans by Ukraine's state railways Ukrzaliznytsia to increase freight tariffs will hit struggling farmers and lead to a fall in production and export volumes, Reuters reported, citing Ukrainian farm business association UCAB.

The association said Ukrzaliznytsia intends to raise the tariff for transporting empty wagons for farmers by 67%.

"This could increase the cost of grain transportation by 50-60 hryvnia per ton and will lead to an increase in farmers' expenses during the war by about 2 billion UAH (nearly $50 million) per season," UCAB said in a statement late on Monday.

Ukrzaliznytsia has said it plans to unify Ukrainian transport tariffs and it could raise them by around 7%. It did not confirm the figure used by UCAB.

Earlier this month, plans to raise tariffs were criticised by the traders' union, which said it could only worsen the situation for farmers suffering from falling global food prices.

Ukrainian harvests are likely to decrease in 2024 due to a smaller sowing area caused by the Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion and unfavourable weather.

($1 = 41.3105 hryvnias)