UKRAINE: The UK and Ukraine have signed an agreement to share engineering expertise for the rebuilding of rail, road, port and air transport infrastructure damaged by the Russian invasion. Further details have also been given of a £10m package of British support for Ukrainian Railways, which includes the purchase of equipment for the movement of grain by rail.
‘The fate of war is decided not only on the battlefield. Ukraine needs a strong economy and steadily operating infrastructure’, said Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov when the agreement was signed with UK Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps during a virtual meeting on August 25. ‘Thanks to today’s agreements, we expect to receive high-quality expertise from leading British companies and institutes to restore Ukrainian infrastructure.’
UK transport infrastructure organisations are invited to register their interest in joining the partnership. ‘We have some of the best transport experts in the world, and sharing this with Ukraine will not only help them rebuild but will boost the profile of UK businesses on a global scale’, said Shapps, who also provided more detail of the £10m package of support for Ukrainian Railways which was announced at the G7 Summit in June.
This will buy bridge repair and tunnel lining equipment and hand tools, as well as more than 120 containers to help mobilise Ukrainian grain trains in support of the Black Sea Grain Initiative which allows the safe passage of food and fertiliser exports in protected shipping corridors.
The UK currently holds the presidency of the International Transport Forum, which is to undertake research into the impact of the war on transport and share policy advice on sustainable reconstruction.
