KYIV. June 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Railway companies and investors, such as Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, Poland’s PKP, France’s SNCF and U.S. Railroad Development Corporation, could be interested in joining an international consortium to invest funds in large sections of Ukrainian railways, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Valeriy Voschevsky wrote on his Facebook page after a meeting with U.S. economist and private lecturer in Kyiv School of Economics Russell Pittman, who is involved in the realization of railway reform projects.
Voschevsky said that international creditors, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and World Bank, could realize railway projects.
“We came to the common opinion that it is impossible to reorganize the Ukrainian economy without the proper reorganization of Ukrainian railways. Our economy depends on production and sale of coal, iron ore, steel and agricultural products, and they are to be delivered to Ukrainian and export markets by rail,” he wrote.
He said that the first important step towards creating the railway system would be removing corruption.
“As soon as we manage to do this, we will have to find ways of attracting investment,” he said.
He also said that the state has fallen short of its own resources in funding the organization and effective operation of Ukrzaliznytsia.
