The State Automobile Road Service (Ukravtodor) is considering the option of building a toll highway between Lviv and Ternopil in the future. Ukravtodor’s acting head Slawomir Nowak announced this in an interview with the CFTS portal.
Asked about plans to build concession roads, Nowak named the Lviv-Ternopil highway, among other potential projects. "We are currently performing major repairs of the Kyiv-Bila Tserkva highway. We are also working on the issue of profitability for the potential investor. Also Lviv-Krakovets, Lviv-Hungarian border (there are various sections there), and Lviv-Ternopil," the head of Ukravtodor said.
He also said that the option of construction of an Odesa-Reni toll highway was being considered. However, according to him, there is no confidence that investors will be interested in this project.
"We must develop the major corridors Odesa-Kyiv and Odesa-Lviv and further to the border into the EU. We will implement this project next year," he said.
He emphasized that construction of toll highways requires legislative changes. "We need to amend the Concession Law. We have prepared these amendments jointly with the parliament’s transport committee and submitted them to members of the parliament for consideration. I hope that the law will be considered before the end of the year. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to attract investors," he said
As reported last year, the Cabinet of Ministers is considering construction of a toll road around Ternopil on concession terms.
Nowak later said that the Kyiv-Bila Tserkva highway could become the first toll highway in Ukraine. Ukravtodor has already calculated that construction of the new 50-kilometer highway will cost USD 300 million. The investor in its construction could collect tolls over a period of 25 years, after which the highway would become state owned and free to use.
Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelian has said that construction of pilot concession roads on which tolls will be charged will begin in 2019. "We hope that the Lviv-Krakovets and Kyiv-Uman concession roads will be the pilot projects. They will be part of an autobahn that will connect the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, the so-called Go Highway from Gdansk to Odesa," the minister said.
