Not just tickets. How the Proizd service is building a new growth model

1% of all Ukrzaliznytsia online tickets are sold through the Proizd service. This application was one of the first independent online sellers of Ukrzaliznytsia tickets, and now it is among the top three largest sellers of tickets for the state carrier.However, over the past three years, Ukrzaliznytsia has been selling more and more tickets independently, including by improving the functionality of its website and app. Thus, while in 2021 intermediaries sold 35% of online railway tickets, by the beginning of 2026 their share will be 10%.The revenue of the Proizd service is also decreasing. In the first three quarters of 2025, the company's net income from sales almost halved, according to YouControl – from UAH 55.4 million to UAH 28 million.How does Proizd, which essentially created this market, intend to compensate for this?About the product and the appThe Proizd ticket sales service started operating in December 2014. The first ticket sold in the system was Chernivtsi-Kyiv for 610 hryvnias. In the first two years of its existence, the company sold 1 million tickets.At that time, the main online channel for ticket sales was the official website of Ukrzaliznytsia. According to Oleksiy Pugach, head of IT projects for the passenger division of Ukrzaliznytsia, the portal was already outdated at that point."The website was functioning fine, but it was a bit outdated in terms of UX and UI, and users had grown accustomed to more convenient, aesthetically pleasing, and advanced systems," recalls Oleksiy Pugach.For example, there were problems with displaying locations.The Proizd team saw this as an opportunity to meet the needs of those for whom the cost of the ticket is not as important as the convenience of the service and support during the trip."We launched our app back in 2017, while Ukrzaliznytsia launched theirs in 2022. And if it weren't for companies like us, Ukrzaliznytsia would never have done it," says Valeriy Samohorodskyi, one of the founders of the Proizd company.When developing the product, he and his business partners focused on international airline ticket sales platforms, specifically Skyscanner and Momondo.In 2018, according to YouControl, Proizd's revenue was UAH 4.7-4.8 million, and in 2021, it was UAH 33 million.Read alsoResilience as Capital: How to Build a Business in a Volatile World of 2026 and Not Go CrazyAbout the commission and serviceSamogorodsky and his partners built the service model around supporting the passenger during the trip, not just around the ticket purchase itself. In fact, the sale of a travel document was not considered a completed transaction, but the beginning of a journey.To this end, the company implemented a call center in 2014, which operates 24/7 and supports the client throughout the entire route.Here's an example of a problem that operators often had to solve. Until 2021, Ukrainian Railways had a category of "print-on-demand" tickets that had to be printed at a special ticket office at the station. Passengers often confused this document with regular e-tickets, which they only found out about when boarding the train.In such cases, the service operators helped to quickly restore or re-issue documents, particularly when the problem arose before the train's departure.In 2015, Proizd began selling bus tickets.In this regard, the company has taken on a new level of responsibility: explaining and resolving force majeure situations for the passenger. The team investigates the reason for the flight cancellation or no-show, confirms it with the carrier, and assists with the refund.The company's earnings are a relatively low commission from the passenger.On average:for tickets up to UAH 300, the commission is UAH 10–20;for tickets in the range of UAH 500–1000 — about UAH 50;for tickets more expensive than UAH 1000 — approximately 7% of the cost.In 2020, the company's net revenue from product sales was 8 million, and in 2021, it quadrupled to 33 million. In 2022, despite the war, the company's net revenue from product sales grew by another 8% to 35.8 million UAH, and in 2023-2024, it doubled to almost 72 million. It then sharply collapsed in 2025.Read alsoUS and Eurozone bonds. How much can Ukrainians earn?A radical change in the situationIn 2021, independent agents sold 35% of Ukrzaliznytsia's tickets, and in 2026, they will sell 10%, says Pugach.This was the result of Ukrzaliznytsia's work – in 2022, the carrier launched its own app, and in 2024, it updated its website.The proizd.ua team considers the updated Ukrzaliznytsia app to be a result of market competition. The emergence of official agents has forced the state carrier to invest more actively in its digital product and compete not only as a carrier but also as an IT service."We looked at the best examples of ticket resellers: Omio, Trainline, and the international experience of Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB. We didn't copy the agents' designs, but rather thought about how to make it convenient for the user to search and quickly navigate through dates," says Oleksiy Pugach from Ukrzaliznytsia.The official Ukrzaliznytsia app has significant advantages that agents do not. The most important is automatic ticket purchase. The reason for this is technical limitations: agent services have limits on the number of requests to the carrier's system, while automatic purchase requires constant monitoring of available seats.International transportation is also unavailable to agents. International travel is a speculative area. In 2022, for the Kyiv-Warsaw train, almost every third ticket could be bought for resale. This is according to Oleksiy Pugach. He adds that Ukrzaliznytsia introduced restrictions, the need to register through Diia.Signature, and reduced the number of these schemes to 3%. Therefore, international travel for agents was disabled precisely for security reasons.Fines are also a serviceIn 2025, Proizd updated its application. In particular, it improved the MVP – a version of the service for paying fines for traffic violations.This feature is also built on a service component. In particular, through the service, you can find your fine, view a map of recording devices, etc.But most importantly, the support team takes on payment processing not just as an intermediary, but as a problem-solver. For example, they help with finding receipts, checking payment status, and communicating with the relevant entities.This refers, in particular, to situations where, due to technical or human factors, a fine is considered unpaid and the case goes to the enforcement service. In such cases, the call center supports the client until the circumstances are fully clarified, and if necessary, the fine can be covered by the company.The Proizd pipeline includes new services related to travel. For example, the development and implementation of tools for electric vehicle owners: route planning, booking charging stations, and selecting a trip based on passengers or travel format.This is a justified decision. "I see the development of resellers specifically in multimodal transportation, where you can purchase everything in one place," says Pugach from Ukrzaliznytsia. He advises such companies to increase sales by providing additional services. For example, when purchasing a ticket, offer hotel reservations at the destination.The long-term strategy for Proizd is to integrate more deeply into the travel of Ukrainians. There are no plans to enter foreign markets.Instead, the company aims to become a single point of entry for all travel scenarios – from student trips and family events to business trips. The idea is to become a service, earning commissions from services.However, Proizd should not be a tourism provider."The tourism business is about wanting to go somewhere. I want to go to Turkey, Egypt, Bukovel, or Dragobrat. But our business is from the word 'need': I need to go to a wedding or on a business trip," Valeriy Samohorodskyi concludes.

Comments