BRUSSELS — The European Investment Bank will lend Ukraine 75 million euros to finance investment in urban road safety in five cities: Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa.
The investment agreement was sign on July 9 in Brussels on the margins of the European Union-Ukraine summit, Vice Prime Minister for European Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klimpush-Tsyntsadze and EIB Vice President Vazil Hudák told journalists.
“The EIB loan will help make Ukraine’s major cities safer and more livable, thanks to an improved urban environment and a better road and transport system,” Hudák said. “This will transform those cities into more attractive places to live for their citizens, visitors and businesses alike, while also stimulating economic growth.”
The five cities have a combined population of seven million people, or a sixth of Ukraine’s population of 42 million.
Klimpush-Tsyntsadze underlined that improving the quality of transport infrastructure is “a strategic priority for Ukraine.”
“For years now, Ukrainian roads have been a constant source of disappointment,” Klimpush-Tsyntsadze said.
“Not only did the bad roads restrict our right to freedom of movement, but they also extracted a terrible toll in human lives. With a road accident mortality rate that is three times higher than in the EU, it is imperative that we fix and improve our transportation infrastructure.”
“By investing in road safety and other projects like the extension and upgrading of the Kharkiv Metro, the European Investment Bank is helping Ukraine do so,” she said.
“Together we are modernizing Ukraine’s transport infrastructure to meet European standards.”
The urban road safety project will be supported by a 4.25 million euro grant from the EU provided under the Neighborhood Investment Facility for project preparation, capacity building and monitoring. The EIB loan will complement the EU grant, thus providing more resources to help upgrade key municipal infrastructure.
The project promoter is the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, while the final beneficiaries of the EIB funds will be the municipal authorities of the cities involved. The investments to be supported will be aimed at eliminating the most dangerous road accident black-spots through installing modern traffic management systems, as well as upgrading intersections and junctions and renovating street infrastructure.
The investments will also improve access to public transport for local people. Other supported actions include the development of safe cycling and pedestrian networks, urban transport planning, reducing the speed limit in residential areas and school zones, and computerizing traffic management systems.
The cities in which the infrastructure upgrades will be carried out are Ukraine’s largest, with populations ranging from more than 700,000 in Lviv to around 3 million in Kyiv.
