Ukraine to build 4,000 kilometers in new roads, PM says

The Ukrainian government will build at least 4,000 kilometers
of roads this year, which would set a record, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk
said during a presentation on Jan. 27. The main project will be building a top
quality road between Kyiv and Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, and
between Dnipro and Mariupol, a port city near the frontline with Donbas,
Honcharuk said at a conference of Ukravtodor, the state road service
enterprise. This year’s road construction will be financed from either the
state road fund, state-backed financial guarantees or additional state budget
financing, Ukravtodor Head Oleksandr Kubrakov told the conference. Businessman
Oleksandr Yaroslavskiy (estimated wealth USD 375 mln) told journalists that his
holding, DCH Group, is planning to enter the road-building market this year,
the eurointegration.com.ua news site said.

Zenon Zawada: The
government is on the right track in participating in this conference and making
road construction a top priority. If such efforts are serious and visible
throughout the country, they will build more political capital with the public
in case a peace agreement in Donbas isn’t reached this year. Ukrainians want to
see tangible reforms in their day-to-day lives, and there’s no easier way to
accomplish that than road construction and repair.