Ukraine to pursue railway development projects worth 4.5 bln euros up to 2030 as part of integration with Europe's TEN-T network

MOSCOW. March 23 (Interfax) - The incorporation of Ukrainian railways into the European TEN-T railway network ensures access to EU assistance instruments, and the integration procedures should involve railway network development projects in Ukraine worth 4.5 billion euros in the period up to 2030, Irina Koshel-Repnevskaya, director of the Reform Support Team (RST) at the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry, said in an interview with Ukrainian media.

"Ukraine has been part of the TEN-T network for not that long, since 2017. And as part of this work, we have a so-called investment indicative plan of the European Commission for the development of TEN-T corridors, which envisions investments and the development of relevant routes. Ukraine plans to implement development projects within the TEN-T network worth 4.5 billion euros in the period up to 2030," Koshel-Repnevskaya said.

The European Commission has amended the TEN-T indicative maps by including Ukrainian railway routes in them, Koshel-Repnevskaya said. In particular, the North Sea - Baltic Corridor has been laid via Lvov and Kiev toward Mariupol, the Baltic-Black-Aegean Seas Corridor via Lvov and Chernovtsy (Romania and Moldova) to Odessa, and the Baltic Sea - Adriatic Sea Corridor and the Rhine-Danube Corridor via Lvov, she said.

The European Commission has excluded Russian and Belarusian routes from the TEN-T network and downgraded the status of routes in the EU territory connected to those two countries, she said.

The inclusion of Ukrainian railway corridors in the TEN-T network and access to financing provide for investment opportunities, including for EU countries, as well as special status for Ukraine, she said.