The Kryukov Railcar Building Works was ready to supply high-speed trains as part of Ukraine’s preparation to host the finals of the European football championship in 2012, but then-Minister of Infrastructure Borys Kolesnikov blocked this process. The president of the Kryukov Railcar Building Works, Volodymyr Prikhodko, announced this in an interview with the LigaBiznesInform publication.
"There was significant lobbying for imports. We were capable of delivering these trains. There were creditors, the opportunity, and the desire. Yes, Kolesnikov said that we did not have time, but he did not say why. He did not give us the time or the opportunity to perform tests, he did not provide drivers – he simply blocked our participation. Although we talked for hours, he agreed with our arguments but did things his own way," said Prikhodko.
Prikhodko did not specify how many trains the Kryukov Railcar Building Works was ready to produce.
As reported, Ukraine bought 10 trains manufactured by the Hyundai Rotem company, which are capable of reaching a speed of 160 km/h, ahead of the 2012 European football championship. The trains were launched on routes between the cities that hosted football matches during the tournament - Kiev, Lvov, Kharkov, and Donetsk. The Korean-made express trains broke down en masse on routes during the winter in their first year of operation in Ukraine.
All the 10 Hyundai trains were withdrawn from service on 12 February 2014 because of a technical malfunction that was detected in one of them, which threatened the safety of passengers. The malfunction was in the support structure of the train’s body. The trains returned to servi9ce after repair with the participation of Korean experts.
