Groysman promises better roads in Ukraine in 2-3 years

Monday, May 16, 2016 - 10:21 (EEST) Section: Latest news

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman says he expects that Ukraine will have better roads in two or three years, according to the Cabinet of Ministers Secretariat`s Information and Communication Department.
”Now we have started to rebuild the road sector in Ukraine. Of course, it is very difficult to do this in a day, a week or a year, but I want to emphasize that in a few years we will be able to improve the Ukrainian roads,” Groysman said while attending events on the occasion of Europe Day celebrations in Vinnytsia on May 14, the source said.
”The Cabinet of Ministers is working to set up an ad hoc road fund as part of the country`s state budget to accumulate resources,” he said.
The prime minister also noted that the appropriate decision might be agreed with the parliament in September.
In addition, he announced that the management of the state roads of local importance would be transferred to regional state administrations. ”We will decentralize road management in Ukraine,” Groysman said.
Local budgets have now resources to co-finance road repairs due to higher revenues as a result of fiscal decentralization that has already started, the prime minister said. The consolidation of resources will allow the authorities to do more.
The improvement of road management in Ukraine is one of the government`s priorities, according to Groysman. He added the Cabinet had enabled access to financing of necessary road repairs.
Groysman also pointed to the need to launch large-scale construction of the roads in the country.
”Large-scale road construction will enable us to make the conditions of the roads better, to improve them. We need to build transport corridors with the view of [developing] our transit potential. A lot of various infrastructure facilities and jobs will be created in this respect,” Groysman said.
The prime minister also called on journalists and the public to engage in the process to monitor the quality of roads repairs.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 29, the Ukrainian parliament rejected a draft law developed by the government on creating an ad hoc road fund to finance repairs and build roads. The fund was expected to use receipts from excise duties on fuel imports to the country.
On May 5, the Infrastructure Ministry called on the parliament to adopt a revised bill on the establishment of the road fund in Ukraine.
According to the Infrastructure Ministry`s estimates, the fund will be able to accumulate up to UAH 40 billion if it is set up already this year. A total of UAH 26 billion of the fund`s resources could be spent on national highways, and the remaining funds could be allocated for local roads.