Ukraine joined the Connecting Europe Facility

An agreement has been signed in Lviv between the EU and Ukraine on Ukraine’s accession to the Connecting Europe Facility. According to EU Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean, Ukraine will receive €33 billion for infrastructure development under the agreement. This will cover energy, transport and digital infrastructure.

According to her, Ukraine is the first country not a member of the European Union to sign this document.

“This is a very important programme. Ukraine is becoming an infrastructure part of the whole of Europe. And this budget is quite large for transport, energy and digital infrastructure – it is €33 billion until 2027,” said Adina Vălean, EU Commissioner for Transport.

According to Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, the agreement will allow Ukraine to develop its border infrastructure.

“We have signed an agreement that will allow us to jointly develop border infrastructure, our checkpoints, roads and transport corridors. Our Black Sea ports are almost blocked, and the grain initiative in May had perhaps the worst results in recent months. That is why all alternative routes and export corridors that can take additional transport and cargo are important,” Kubrakov said.

The parties also discussed the implications of this agreement for the Lviv region, including the opening of additional checkpoints and the possible operation of the airport.

“Thank you for raising these issues because the possible opening of the airport is one of the things we are looking forward to. This issue has indeed been raised, and we hope that just as there is a grain corridor, there will be a humanitarian corridor the European Union can provide,” said Maksym Kozytskyi, Head of the Lviv Regional State Administration.

This year, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure and EU member states have submitted six proposals for consideration. All aim at optimising and modernising traffic flows regarding infrastructure capacity at international road and rail border crossings.

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