KYIV. June 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Air Express National Project to construct a high-speed passenger rail service between Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky railway station and Boryspil International Airport has been transferred to the management of the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine.
This is stipulated in cabinet resolution No. 418 of June 17, 2015.
The Air Express national project is funded by China EximBank. The total loan amounts to $372 million. The loan will be issued in two tranches.
The first tranche of $52 million was released in 2013 and was aimed at design and preparatory work. The second tranche of $320 million will be used for the construction of infrastructure.
Acting Deputy Director General for Operations at Boryspil airport Anton Borysiuk said in December 2014 that it was unlikely that the initial stages of the Air Express project would have created high passenger demand.
In April 2015 Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pyvovarsky said that the project is economically unjustifiable.
In June 2015 it was reported that Ukraine and China are willing to discuss the possibility of redirecting loan funds provided for the project.
According to Pyvovarsky, the feasibility of the Air Express project has not been confirmed, therefore the ministry is ready to propose alternative projects that can be funded using Chinese money.
