The European Commission and the EBRD have allocated €1 billion for the development of “solidarity corridors” with Ukraine
The European Commission and the EBRD held a conference with the participation of the ministers of Ukraine, Moldova, Poland and Romania, and agreed on a financial package in the amount of 1 billion euros for the development of “solidarity corridors”, which were created to deliver Ukrainian exports to European and world markets.
European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valeanu announced this decision today in Brussels during a press statement.
“We did everything we could (for the development of “corridors” – ed.) using available resources. In order to move forward, and we must move forward, we need more investment: in rail tracks, in scanners and in transshipment equipment, and in infrastructure upgrades. Together, the European Commission, the EBRD and the World Bank announced the allocation of a financial package of 1 billion euros, which is intended exclusively for financing “corridors of solidarity”, the European Commissioner stressed.
According to her, today Ukraine and Moldova gained access to the possibilities of the European Interconnection Fund (CEF), which is a financial instrument of the European TEN-T transport project. These resources can be used to implement cross-border projects and to eliminate “bottlenecks” during operations on “solidarity corridors”.
The European Commissioner reminded that the “corridors of solidarity” have been working for 7 months. During this time, more than 17 million tons of grain were transported with their help, as well as many other goods – from humanitarian aid and fuel to animal feed and fertilizers. At the same time, these transport routes have become corridors of life for the economy of Ukraine, and they will continue to work.
Adina Valean noted that all EU countries participated in the creation of “solidarity corridors”, but some of them, due to their geographical location, made the greatest contribution. The European Commissioner expressed her gratitude to Poland, Slovakia and Romania for their hard work and significant contribution to this project. According to her, the Danube route and the Romanian port of Constanţa took on the main burden – they accounted for almost 50 percent of all Ukrainian grain exports delivered through the “corridors of solidarity”. At the same time, the second largest and busiest route is the land corridor through Poland. The possibilities of the so-called Adriatic corridor are also very important.
As the European Commissioner noted, the European Commission is already working with the EBRD to identify key infrastructure projects. The first mixed financial instruments consisting of grants from the European Commission and loans from the EBRD to support the “corridors of solidarity” will be presented soon.
“My services have already started the allocation of €259 million that we intend to raise through the CEF, including its military mobility unit. At the same time, we are under time pressure to ensure quick allocation of money for the most urgent projects. That is why I called on my fellow ministers from Romania, Poland, Ukraine and Moldova to finalize the approval of the “short letter” of projects in the coming weeks, as these projects must be presented by January 18, when the competition under the current CEF program will be closed. – said Adina Valean.
She noted that the European Commission and the EBRD have promising results in the competition for military mobility projects. Out of the total amount of 600 million euros available under this package, projects for the development of the “solidarity corridors” were presented for an amount exceeding 10 percent of such a military mobility package.
“I am convinced that we will be able to adopt most of these projects, which is very good news for the member states that are on the front line,” added the European Commissioner.
Another good example of support from the European Commission and the EBRD, according to her, is the allocation of a grant of 20 million euros that the EU allocated to Moldova, which will be supplemented by a loan of 12 million euros from the EBRD. This support will make it possible to modernize the north-south railway routes and simplify the transportation of Ukrainian exports through the territory of Moldova to the Danube ports.
Other projects include equipment for night navigation on the Danube (Sulina Canal), improvement of border crossings between Poland, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine, mobile equipment for night navigation, mobile equipment for transshipment of goods, equipment for parking places for trucks, improvement of railway tracks to ports Romania, etc.
As already reported, after the start of military aggression against Ukraine, Russia blocked Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which stopped the export of Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizers, and provoked a global food crisis. To solve it, as well as within the framework of economic support for Ukraine, the EU launched the so-called “corridors of solidarity” on the borders with Ukraine, for the export of Ukrainian exports by land, using road and rail transport, as well as internal waterways.
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