The free road maintenance market in Ukraine today exists in word only, and it does not really exist, Head of the Ukrainian State Road Agency, also known as Ukravtodor, Slawomir Nowak has said.

"Instead of pretending to conduct reforms I have decided that we would return to the initial point and start the realistic reform of this structure. First we should provide for road maintaining in Ukraine. If there is no private firms that could do this the state-run company will do this," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

He said that the cancelation of liquidation of state-run enterprise Automobile Roads of Ukraine was a reloading of plans about the free market. Today it looks like the situation in Poland 10 or 12 years ago.

"First we reform the state-run enterprise, upgrade machinery and are involved in restructuring. In five or seven years of this work when new competitive companies appear we will switch to the free market," Nowak said.

He expressed hope that when local authorities start managing local roads, local private companies that would maintain roads would appear.

"Then it is appropriate to make a decision what to do with the state-run enterprise: privatization, concession or decentralization. However, the state-run enterprise should operate for the next five or seven years," he said.