Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelian and Poland’s Minister of Infrastructure and Construction Andrzej Adamczyk signed a Memorandum of Understanding on further cooperation on the Via Carpathia international motorway project in Przemysl on October 22, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure.

"The corridor through the Carpathians is a bridge between Europe and Asia that allows us to take advantage of the transit potentials of Poland, Ukraine, and other partner countries. This is specifically why development of transport infrastructure is extremely important for ensuring a sustainable transport link from Europe to Asia through the territories of Ukraine and Poland," Omelian said.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure did not disclose specific provisions of the signed document. However, the ministry said that the Ukrainian and Polish ministers held a bilateral meeting, during which they discussed preparations for construction of two new transport corridors (Via Carpathia and GO Highway) and improvement of the rail links between Ukraine and Poland.

By signing the Second Lancut Declaration in March 2016, Ukraine assumed a number of obligations involving development of the transport infrastructure in the Carpathian region and performance of subsequent work on the Via Carpathia route. In particular, the signatories assumed the obligation "to intensively co-operate in order to eliminate existing obstacles to seamless international transport in the area of the Carpathians; to Endeavour to create such conditions for transport that transit operations of goods and passengers along the Via Carpathia road route are efficient, economically viable and environmentally more friendly than nowadays; to ensure close cooperation at inter-ministerial level in terms of the construction of cross-border road sections and apply for financial assistance from international Financial Institutions for building the necessary road infrastructure and within the EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program or other EU programs, while respecting the national and European priorities in the road sector.”

As the CFTS portal reported, Adamczyk has said that the construction of the Polish section of the Via Carpathia international motorway, which has a length of 600 kilometers, will be completed by 2025. Adamczyk signed permits for construction of four sections of the S19 motorway, which is part of the Via Carpathia corridor, on May 18. The total length of these sections is 178 kilometers.