Ukrainian Vice Premier and Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnykov has said the rail link between Kyiv and the Boryspil International Airport will not be ready by 2012.
"The "Air Express" will not be launched by the Euro 2012 for certain," Kolesnykov said during a briefing on Monday.
According to him, the implementation of the project will take at least two years. In addition, the vice premier said that the issue of state guarantees for loans drawn for this project from China has not been resolved as of yet.
As reported, a framework agreement between the Boryspil International Airport and China National General Machinery Engineering Corporation was concluded in September 2010. Ukraine will receive a loan of $1 billion under the agreement. It envisages the construction of an eight-kilometer long rail link from Kyiv to the Boryspil Airport, the building of four railway stations, and the purchase of electric trains.
Earlier, Boryspil International Airport Director General Borys Shakhsuvarov forecast that the project implementation would start no earlier than in 2012, as a number of issues remain unresolved.
The national budget for 2011 does not foresee state guarantees for loans, and in addition to that, the issue of the land plots that will be crossed by the rail link still has to be resolved, as most of these land plots are in private ownership. In addition to that the final project an its cost estimate have not been approved.
