Ukrainian government officials revealed plans March 20 to construct a beltway to encircle Kyiv and its satellite neighborhoods.
Ukrainian government officials revealed on March 20 plans to construct a 213-kilometer beltway to encircle Kyiv and its satellite neighborhoods to relieve traffic congestion in the city’s central districts and foster economic growth.
The “Velyka Okruzhna,” planned by foreign developers in conjunction with Ukrainian national and oblast government officials, would be the most expensive development project ever pursued in Ukraine, costing an estimated $10 billion.
“The highway will change the oblast picture for the better, linking suburban neighborhoods to the capital, thereby attracting further investment into the whole region,” said Vira Ulianchenko, head of the Kyiv State Oblast Administration.
If implemented, the beltway should steer traffic away from the center, boost real estate values and ignite a development and population boom, changing the character of Ukraine’s capital.
Completion of the beltway’s first section is targeted for 2012, in time for the UEFA EURO 2012 football championship, while the entire project is slated to be completed in 2017.
“This is a historic project that will differ from the rest by its building conditions,” said Transport and Communications Minister Yosyp Vinskiy. “We must do everything fast, according to European norms and standards.”
Architectural planning and engineering of the new highway will cost $22.8 million and is expected to be done by midautumn, Vinskiy said. Construction will start at year’s end.
The highway will be built in three stages: the first will be financed by the national budget and government credit, the second and third parts by privatepublic partnerships and international investment, he said.
The four and sixlane highway will cross eight districts in the Kyiv oblast, and 65 kilometers will be built over existing highway, Vinskiy said.
Plans also include infrastructure development along the highway, including more than 150 commercial buildings and 40 bridges. The highway will cover a total of 2,000 hectares of land, 1,200 of which are under private ownership, Vinskiy said.
The government expects to adopt an eminent domain law allowing acquisition of private land needed for the project, said Roman Zhukovych, the head of the SocioEconomic Service at the Presidential Secretariat.
According to the proposed law, private property owners of land intended for the beltway project will either get financial compensation or comparable land somewhere else.
The highway will link the local rural population to the capital’s social services and economic opportunities, Ulianchenko said.
“Many satellite cities will be inside the new highway belt, which will be a positive influence both for those who live there and for those who would like to buy land there,” said Konstantin Stepanov, head of research for the Sokrat investment group.
“Kyiv will grow and littlebylittle expand its borders. This is why probably in the next 15 years, those cities may become the capital’s districts.”
Land areas next to the future highway route currently range from $7,400 per 100 square meters in the Obukhiv district to $5,900 in the Boryspil district, according to SV Development, a Kyiv real estate firm.
“Prices for those land areas will certainly increase,” said Vitaliy Vavryschuk, an analyst at Kyivbased investment bank Dragon Capital.
“Warehouses, hotels, restaurants, and shops will be of great value next to the highway, and of course more people would like to buy land there for building private residences,” Vavryschuk said, adding that it will be hard to estimate land valuation until construction starts.
