Event: New Gauge Initiative Foundation Roundtable: The Liberalization of Ukraine’s Railway, and Opportunities for US Businesses in the Rebuilding of Ukraine’s Railway Infrastructure and Rolling Stock
Date: May 1, 2025, 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. EST
Location: Dentons: 1900 K St NW, Washington, DC 20006 and via Zoom
Panel and participants:
- Guy Archer (President, New Gauge Initiative)
- Dmitry Eremeev (Board Chairman, New Gauge Initiative)
- Anatoliy Kinakh (Prime Minister of Ukraine, 2001-2002, and President, Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs)
- Matthew London (Affiliated Researcher at Georgetown University, former Amsted Rail executive)
- Mark McNamee (Co-Founder, UBN Network),
- Sergiy Nenko (President, Association of Railway Carriers of Ukraine)
- Pavel Padolian (Vice President, Association of Railway Carriers of Ukraine)
To register to attend the event in-person or via Zoom: Please write to guy.archer@newgaugeinitiative.org. Zoom coordinates will be sent the week of the roundtable.
Overview
The New Gauge Initiative Foundation is a non-profit in Washington, DC, founded to facilitate independent research for the liberalization of the Ukrainian Railways (UR) and to provide an expert platform for American businesses to take a leading role in the rebuilding and modernization of Ukraine’s rail infrastructure and rolling stock.
New Gauge is a partner of the Association of Railway Carriers of Ukraine (UAP). UAP spearheaded and is now leading the Committee for the Development of Transport Infrastructure within the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) in order to promote the liberalization of UR and to foster foreign investment and competition. All three organizations seek to facilitate the analyses and discussions necessary for finding the financing and foreign investment necessary to rebuild, modernize, and integrate Ukraine’s railway system into the EU’s and the Three Seas’ Initiative.
The roundtable will address these key issues, among others:
- The current and unsustainable (in terms of foreign investment) state of UR, and the recommendations of ULEA and UAP to liberalize it, and the urgent need to divide it into several independent structures (i.e. an independent regulator; an infrastructure operator that deals exclusively with the management and the development of the railway network; and transport operators so that freight and passenger transport is allocated to individual commercial enterprises that operate on a competitive basis).
- The urgent importance of creating the conditions for US businesses to invest in the sector, as well as the mechanisms necessary to ensure equal access to Ukrainian railway infrastructure for American companies; the effective protection of American businesses and investor interests; and the requisite removal of inefficiencies, unpredictability, and conflicts of interest.
- How American businesses can take a lead among European and Asian competitors in accessing the rebuilding and modernization of Ukraine’s rail infrastructure and rolling stock.
- Financing, insurance, and investment guarantees.
