Ukraine and France may sign an agreement within the framework of the Mixed Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation in the near future, Head of the Ukrainian side of the commission, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has said.
“We have been working on the details of a common project with the French side for a long time and in the near future we can reach an intergovernmental agreement that will fully meet the needs of Ukraine. Including the requirements set by the President of Ukraine regarding the localization of production at Ukrainian enterprises,” Avakov said at a meeting with CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge on Tuesday, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reports.
At a meeting with the participation of the French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins and the general director of Ukrzaliznytsia Volodymyr Zhmak, the parties discussed the prospects for implementation of the ALSTOM electric locomotive supply project with partial localization of their production and maintenance in Ukraine.
“We have a very outdated fleet of locomotives and we need to strategically update it. At this stage, we are interested in 50 two-system electric locomotives capable of transporting from 5,500 to 6,000 tonnes of cargo. We need these locomotives with a long-term maintenance system and localized production in Ukraine. At the second stage, we are interested in obtaining single-system locomotives,” Zhmak said during the negotiations.
Poupart-Lafarge, in turn, assured that ALSTOM could be a reliable and long-term partner for Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukraine.
“We have been working on the market for many years and we can meet the needs of Ukrzaliznytsia. ALSTOM has experience in working in markets with the localization of production and service capacities. This strengthens our cooperation and creates new jobs. In particular, we work in this way in Kazakhstan and South Africa,” he said.
De Poncins said that over the past two years, taking into account the active implementation of helicopter (Airbus Helicopters) and ship (OSEA) projects of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, a humanitarian project to improve water supply in Mariupol with the prospect of its spread to Luhansk region, the total cost of all economic cooperation programs between Ukraine and France is EUR 800 million.
The draft general plan of Kyiv includes the construction of an external bypassing railroad from Nizhyn to Korosten directions for passing transit freight traffic which has overloaded the capital’s railway hubs recently.
The press service of Kyiv City State Administration said referring to the municipal organization Kyivgenplan on Wednesday that the main railway development measures include:
– construction of a railway junction at various levels near the Livy Bereh (Left Bank) stop;
– construction of additional running lines on the sections: Kyiv-Demiyivsky – Darnytsia, Zhuliany – Hlevakha, Kyiv – Myronivka;
– closure of 66 low-density line at ten freight stations;
– creation of three transport and storage facilities near Kozhukhivka in Vasylkivsky district, Kalynivka in Brovarsky district, Ukrainka at the facility with new freight districts of the river port;
– closure of freight stations and Kyiv-Tovarny, Kyiv-Dniprovsky yards, Kyiv-Pochaina freight yard, Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky hauling yard and Darnytsia sorting yard.
As reported, the draft general plan of Kyiv also envisages the construction of two new bus stations at Kyiv’s exits and shutdown of the Central Bus Station.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a EUR 50 million credit line to help Ukraine’s railway and road authorities, Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukravtodor, eliminate bottlenecks in European transport networks. As the bank announced, its board of directors approved the project on September 19, 2018. It covers projects for small transport infrastructure worth up to EUR 20 million.
Loans are to be used to improve interaction within the framework of the Eastern Neighborhood and provide substantial support for small-scale but locally significant projects. It is also expected that such financing will improve traffic safety.
The EIB document states that the total cost of this framework project is approximately EUR 110 million, but other sources of co-financing are not specified.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a project on organization of passenger traffic between Kyiv city and the Boryspil international airport. It will take 13 months and a half to implement the project, which cost is UAH 583.238 million (in the prices as of May 2, 2018). According to the document, which has been sent to Interfax-Ukraine, construction works would cost UAH 428.478 million, equipment and furniture – UAH 37.755 million and other expenses – UAH 117 million.
The total exploitation length of the section between Kyiv Pasazhysky station and Boryspil airport is 37.4 km. The project is divided into two stages. The cost of the first stage is UAH 502.947 million. It is planned to build 3.7 km of railway track, one new stop and a flyover railway line of 272 meters long in six months.
In addition, two passenger platforms with open-door passenger shelters near Terminal D of the airport and an open-door gallery between the passenger shelter and Terminal D of 150 meters long.
The cost of the second stage is UAH 80.291 million. A new stop, a high passenger platform near the flyover railway line of 160 meters longs will be built in seven months and a half.
