President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed decree No.635/2021 appointing Viktor Mykyta as head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration.
According to the press service of the President’s Office, during a meeting, Zelensky introduced the new head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration with an official certificate and expressed his conviction that his experience and knowledge would contribute to effective work in the position.
The State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) intends to implement three priority projects in Zakarpattia region under a Hungarian loan, the allocation of which was confirmed by Minister of Foreign Economy and Foreign Affairs of Hungary Peter Szijjarto during his working visit to Ukraine on Wednesday.
As the press service of Ukravtodor told Interfax-Ukraine, among these facilities, in particular, is the construction of a new 10-kilometer road of the first technical category from the Hungarian border to the M-24 highway, and then to the highway M-06 Kyiv-Chop.
“This will be a continuation of the Hungarian M3 motorway from Budapest to Vásárosnamény, which, in turn, is part of the Fifth Pan-European Transport Corridor that passes through the territory of Ukraine,” the agency said.
The expected traffic intensity on the site is 12,000 vehicles. The construction of three interchanges is envisaged. Another checkpoint on the Hungarian-Ukrainian border is envisaged as well.
According to Ukravtodor, the designed-estimated documentation for this project is being examined. The estimated cost of construction is UAH 3.8 billion.
Another priority object is the construction of a bypass road around the town of Berehove and further to the Luzhanka checkpoint on the border with Hungary. The estimated cost of construction is UAH 1.5 billion. The designed-estimated documentation is at the final stage.
In addition, the modernization of the bridge across the river Tysa at the checkpoint Tysa-Záhony is a priority.
According to Ukravtodor, the start of the implementation of these projects is scheduled for 2021.
In general, in 2020, some 282 km of roads were repaired under the Big Construction program in Zakarpattia region.
As reported, Minister of Foreign Economy and Foreign Affairs of Hungary Peter Szijjarto confirmed the allocation of EU50 million to Ukraine for the development of road infrastructure in Zakarpattia region.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine considers the opening of Uzhgorod airport to be only a temporary solution to the problem of air links with Zakarpattia, Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“The opening of the airport in Uzhgorod is a temporary solution. For us the construction of a new airport, either in Mukachevo (most likely) or in another city, will be the key one. But this requires money,” he said, adding that the construction of a new airport in Zakarpattia will cost UAH 2-3 billion.
“We always emphasize that Zakarpattia cannot be the territory cut off from Ukraine. It must have a full-fledged road, rail and air communication. As a state, we have achieved this and opened the airport [in Uzhgorod]. Now the question is it should work qualitatively,” Omelyan said.
According to him, for the normal work of the airport a lot of work should be done at the regional level.
“They should interest airlines, offer passengers a product so that the planes are not empty, and then plan convenient flights,” the infrastructure minister said.
