Kuleba agrees with German digital affairs, transport minister on implementation of projects under UTSF

 Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities and Territories Development Oleksiy Kuleba has reported a meeting with German Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport Patrick Schnieder, during which the parties agreed to move on to selecting and implementing a project under the Ukraine Transport Support Fund (UTSF).

"Before that, during the roundtable, Germany announced its readiness to contribute to the Ukraine Transport Support Fund. We discussed in detail the next steps and the selection of a project for support. We agreed to finalize the decision in the near future and move on to practical implementation," Kuleba said on Telegram on Thursday following the meeting.

He said Ukraine had recently received the first 13 of 18 vehicles from German partners for Ukrainian railway workers, while 32 generators and 18 units of construction equipment are also expected for the needs of transport infrastructure.

The parties also raised the issue of developing road transport between Ukraine and the EU, maritime logistics, and the restoration of port and river infrastructure.

As reported, in February, Ukraine, together with Sweden, Lithuania and Canada, signed an agreement to create the Ukraine Transport Support Fund (UTSF) to implement small and medium-sized recovery and development projects in the fields of roads, railways, border crossing points, aviation, maritime infrastructure and urban mobility. Later, five more countries joined the joint declaration in support of the UTSF: Denmark, Germany, Norway, Estonia and the United Kingdom.

At Lithuania's proposal, the Fund will be managed by that country's Central Project Management Agency (CPMA), which already coordinates part of Ukraine's recovery efforts. The initiative will operate in cooperation with the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and other international financial institutions.

It is noted that the first step is planned to be the introduction of automated vehicle weighing systems aimed at reducing truck congestion at border crossing points on Ukraine's border.

The parties stressed, citing the World Bank's RDNA4 study, that damage caused by Russia to Ukraine's transport infrastructure was estimated at around EUR 32 billion as of the end of 2024 alone.