Ukravtodor: This year we will repair 2,000 out of 170,000 kilometers of roads

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In 2017, Ukravtodor (State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine) will channel UAH 14.2 billion into roads. Of these, 7 billion will be spent for servicing road repair debts of the past years, 3 billion will cover winter and summer maintenance, 4 billion will account for repairs and reconstructions. The competence of Ukravtodor includes 170,000 kilometers of roads in Ukraine. 95% of Ukrainian roads are in poor condition. This was stated by Oleksandr Kava, advisor to the head of State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine, at a briefing held at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “The money allotted this year will be enough for medium and major repairs and reconstruction of 727 kilometers. The total network is 170,000 kilometers. We see that this is a drop in the ocean. The government promises to increase Ukravtodor funding to UAH 15 billion. The money will also be used for repairs. Then in 2017 we will be able to repair the total of 2,000 kilometers out of 170, 000,” – explained Mr. Kava.

Since 2017, Ukravtodor road services in each region have been conducting all tenders only through Prozorro system. This provides the necessary transparency of tender procedures as Ukravtodor itself does not perform services. The funds allocated for regional roads are also publicly available. But the openness of information about the condition of roads remains a problem. “We hear that there is no money. But concealment of information about the real condition of the roads makes it impossible to know which contractor has not fulfilled his obligations,” said Volodymyr Tarnay, expert of the Center for Political Studies and Analytics “Eidos.”

Since April 2016, there has been established the maximum weight that can be transported by carriers: 40 tons including the weight of trucks. If this limit is exceeded, the carriers will be fined. During the previous two years, nobody supervised the weight of goods transported over the roads of Ukraine. “Over 2014-2015, our roads came to a bad state of repair. This year we are discussing the purchase of 78 mobile laboratories that will prevent the carriers from violating the weight rules,” informed Mykhailo Nonyak, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety. He noted that only increased responsibility and adequate monitoring system will give results. “We are currently developing legislation and regulations. One such lab can contribute UAH 350 million to the budget. Taken together, they will add up to a large amount that can be spent on repair and construction of Ukrainian roads,” noted Mr. Nonyak.