Active construction of Dnipropetrovsk subway could start in May 2013, and UAH 99 million has been allocated from the national budget for the purpose, Dnipropetrovsk Mayor Ivan Kulichenko said at a press conference on Thursday.

"A sub-credit agreement on the subway has been signed with the Finance Ministry. The project will be realized in volumes, which considerably exceed the financing in the previous years, no earlier than May 2013. The national budget for 2013 foresees UAH 99 million plus additional UAH 28 million for the realization of the project. The key issue for the city is the selection of the general contractor," he said.

As reported, the parliament in October 2012 attracted EUR 152 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to the national budget for 2012 for the construction of the Dnipropetrovsk subway.

The project, which is expected to be co-financed on an equal basis by the European Investment Bank (EIB), will finance the completion of the existing metro line, which will now link the suburbs with the city centre.

The project will provide an efficient, fast and low carbon public transport solution for one of the largest industrial cities in the country. In particular, the project will extend the existing metro line by four kilometers and add three new metro stations. On the project's completion, the subway's traffic flow is expected to double to over 20 million people by 2026.