Four Ukrainian transport infrastructure development projects under the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) grant program have been approved for funding. The funds, totaling EUR 52 million, are intended for financing the development of railways, border crossing points, river information services, and air navigation support.
The Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
Magda Kopczyńska, Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate for Transport and Mobility, announced the completion of the grant agreements and the corresponding funding approval during a "Dialogue" at the International Transport Forum, which took place during her visit to Kyiv. During the event, the European Commission representative handed over the grant agreements to the project beneficiaries: the State Agency for Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development, the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia), the Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE), and the Ukrainian Inland Waterways Authority (Ukrvodshliakh).
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction and Minister of Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Oleksii Kuleba emphasized that securing these grants will allow Ukraine to progress towards integration into the European transport space.
The project "Integration of the Ukrainian Railway System into the EU Transport System: Phase 1." This project involves upgrading the railway network and developing 1435-mm gauge tracks to ensure technological compatibility and increase the capacity of the railway infrastructure.
The project "Organization of Traffic Flows to Increase Infrastructure Capacity, Safety, and Efficiency of Border Crossing Services on the Romania-Moldova-Ukraine Route at the Galati/Giurgiulesti/Reni Border Crossing Points." This project, developed and submitted jointly with Moldovan and Romanian colleagues, aims to ensure the continuity of movement between these border crossing points.
The project "Ukrainian River Information Service on the Danube River - UkrRIS on the Danube." The project entails creating and implementing a river information service on the Ukrainian section of the Danube River, including its integration into the EuRIS and CEERIS portals of the RIS COMEX project, as well as ensuring an adequate level of navigational safety and providing harmonized information services to vessels on inland waterways.
The project "Integrated Modernization of the European CNS Network." This project focuses on restoring Ukraine's air navigation sector and further modernizing the communication, navigation, surveillance, and aeronautical information infrastructure.
Ukraine joined the Connecting Europe Facility grant program in June last year. Ukraine's participation in the program enables the country to attract EU funding to support the development of high-performance, sustainable, and efficiently interconnected trans-European networks in transport, energy, and digital services.
The total budget of the program until 2027 is about EUR 21 billion.
Six border infrastructure projects selected during last year's project application selection process are already being implemented, specifically focusing on the development of road and rail border crossing points.
