Ukraine, while active hostilities with the Russian aggressor continue, is in survival mode, and during this period it is too early to take on billion-dollar projects for decades, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov believes.
“Now we need to launch a lot of low-cost and small projects that will help us and our trading partners to implement them quickly and concretely,” he said in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
“Instead of planning completely destroyed hospitals from scratch, I prefer to focus on repairing hospitals with broken windows and damaged roofs,” the minister explained.
Among such priority projects, he named the rapid repair of bridges, roads and railway lines, which are key for the army and economic recovery, as well as all projects related to increasing the country’s export capabilities.
“Honestly, we are not talking about billions, but millions and many other small projects. New, more efficient checkpoints on the border with Poland, Romania and Moldova, new railway lines from the nearest cargo points in Ukraine, which use the European standard track instead of the Russian wide track,” Kubrakov explained.
According to him, global reconstruction in Ukraine will begin with the end of the war. The Minister of Infrastructure noted the need not just for the reconstruction of old Soviet bridges, but for the construction of new ones using modern technologies.
“Instead of repairing Soviet bridges, we should seize the opportunity to create new ones using the latest technology. And we should at least convert and electrify railways from the Soviet wide track to the European standard one in such a way that all the country’s important cargo hubs are directly connected with Europe,” the minister said.
France could potentially provide another EUR 1 billion in investment in the Big Construction program, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening. “In 2021, Ukraine and France signed a Framework Agreement with a total value of EUR 1.3 billion. The new directions that we presented recently will potentially add another billion in investments,” the minister said.
According to him, the Big Construction program of President Volodymyr Zelensky this year gave the first noticeable results, which attracted the attention of the French government and French companies to Ukraine.
He recalled that in the summer the Ministry of Infrastructure began cooperation with France’s Aerogestion on the optimal model for creating a national air carrier, and by the end of this year it is planned to present the results and possible solutions to the government.
“As part of the development of the concept of the national air carrier, we are also exploring opportunities for cooperation between Antonov State Enterprise and AirBus in cargo transportation and provision of firefighting aircraft. These are ambitious and difficult projects that are inspired by the idea of Greater Europe, because the European Union itself began not only from coal and steel, but also from the first European aircraft,” Kubrakov said.
In addition, Kubrakov said that a project for the construction of a new road on the Krakovets-Lviv-Brody-Rivne route was presented in Paris, to which a company with a private initiative has already joined.
“By the end of the year, the development of a feasibility study will be completed, and next year we expect a competition and the launch of the project. The expertise and experience of French road companies in such projects are extremely valuable,” the minister of infrastructure of Ukraine said.
According to him, cooperation between the two countries will also influence the Ukrainian railway – now the contract between Ukrzaliznytsia and France’s Alstom for the purchase of locomotives is being finalized.
As reported, earlier, in the presence of Zelensky, an agreement on the provision of 130 new Alstom freight electric trains produced by France to Ukrzaliznytsia was signed.
