There won't be fundamental changes to the road sector in Ukraine this year because the State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine is facing an acute shortage of funds for road repair and maintenance, according to Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pyvovarsky.
‘It will be difficult to crucially change the situation this year, considering what amount of money has been allocated for road operation and maintenance – UAH 1.7 billion for the operation of all roads managed by Ukravtodor. Today about UAH 1.2 billion has been spent. It is less than 10% of what is needed to make patching,’ Pyvovarsky said on TV Channel 5.
He did say however that an additional UAH 700 million has been allocated to roads in the Carpathian region.
‘Work on the Lviv-Bobrka-Ivano-Frankivsk segment in Lviv region will be completed by the end of the month, in general work in Ivano-Frankivsk region will end by the end of October, UAH 500 million will be used there, and the remaining money will be spent on patching other roads in the Carpathian region. But that is all, we cannot change the situation with this money,’ the minister said.Pyvovarsky repeated that the creation of a targeted road fund, which will be filled with proceeds from excise duty on fuel, could improve the financing of the road sector.
