(AGENPARL) – gio 01 giugno 2023 PRESS RELEASE
2023-212-EN
Kyiv, 1 June 2023
Ukraine to receive EIB-supported EU grant for over €50 million for temporary bridges to restore mobility in the country
With an EU grant for more than €50 million, Ukraine will rebuild critical infrastructure damaged during the war and reopen routes using temporary bridges.
These grant funds are part of the EIB’s Ukraine Solidarity Urgent Response packages developed together with the European Commission.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the bank of the European Union, has signed an EU grant agreement for over €50 million with the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine in Kyiv. The funds will support the agency in the emergency acquisition of temporary bridges to improve mobility, helping the country surmount obstacles caused by Russian attacks by connecting the Ukrainian population with the aid and services they need.
Much transport infrastructure has been destroyed since Russia began its war against Ukraine, isolating millions of people from the rest of the country and cutting them off from medical care, humanitarian aid, food and pharmaceutical supplies. To serve the agency’s priority of building temporary bridges, the EIB will provide Ukraine with the EU grant funds available under the Neighbourhood Investment Platform, originally granted to enhance the country’s transport networks.
This grant complements the EIB’s Ukraine Solidarity Urgent Response packages prepared in cooperation with the European Commission as an urgent measure to support Ukraine. Of the €2.3 billion in emergency relief granted, €1.7 billion was already paid out in 2022 to finance critical infrastructure needs to keep the country going.
Mustafa Nayyem, Head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, remarked, “Destroyed roads and bridges can cost lives in wartime. Since the beginning of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion, 157 bridges and overpasses have been destroyed on the state roads of Ukraine. The agency for restoration works non-stop to restore routes by rebuilding or bypassing the destroyed road network structures. We appreciate that the EIB and EU partners are ready to support us as we rebuild bridges that will be connecting millions of Ukrainians facing the consequences of war. The priority is to put bridges on the sections of road on which the humanitarian situation in the region critically depends. Temporary bridges purchased by the EU grant funds will help to connect Ukrainian people with services that are vital for their survival and resistance.”
At the signature ceremony in Kyiv, EU Ambassador in Ukraine Matti Maasikas said: “The European Union firmly supports Ukraine’s efforts to restore lifeline infrastructure and services in war-affected communities. The rapid replacement or reconstruction of bridges, allowing restoration of the critical road network connections, is a matter of priority, in order to ensure prompt evacuations of civil population, supply of necessary medical and humanitarian aid, as well as to provide access to basic social services and ensure regional connectivity. This is why today, the European Union is pleased that signature of the grant agreement between EIB and Ukrainian State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure will allow the purchase and installation of the additional temporary bridges with the EU grant support.”