The State Road Agency of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) is preparing for the winter with the diversification of technical salt supplies.

"We started preparing for winter in advance. Today, there are leftover de-icing materials from last year – 25,000 tonnes of technical salt and 159,000 tonnes of friction materials. By the beginning of the worsening weather conditions, we will prepare 283,000 tonnes of friction materials and 89,000 tonnes of technical salt (50% of the standard requirement for the entire autumn-winter period). We are preparing, we have the equipment, by the way, this season we plan to attract 4,885 units of equipment and mechanisms," Andriy Ivko, First Deputy Head of Ukravtodor, said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

He noted that in connection with the shutdown of the State Enterprise Artyomsol due to hostilities in the region and the cessation of the supply of technical salt, Ukravtodor was able to find alternative suppliers of this resource.

"We monitored other deposits and production facilities in our country and found an alternative in the west: the Stebnyk potash deposit in Lviv region and the Bushtyno deposit in Zakarpattia region, as well as the bischofite deposits in Poltava region. We have already conducted technical tests of materials – the available raw materials are not inferior in quality to those previously purchased, and sometimes even better in terms of material melting," Ivko said.

According to him, in addition to the technical characteristics, Ukravtodor also took into account the economic component of such deliveries.

"We are also working with our European partners, we are communicating to ensure the possibility of purchasing technical salt from Europe. Therefore, on November 1, 2022, we will be 100% ready for winter," he said.

According to the first deputy head of Ukravtodor, there are no questions regarding the procurement of fuel either.

In addition, Ivko recalled that the Emergency Response Coordination Centre operates at Ukravtodor, which includes representatives of the State Emergency Service, the National Police, the State Service for Transport Safety, JSC Automobile Roads of Ukraine, Kyiv military administration and city state administrations, the Ukrainian Association of Road Carriers and the Association of International Road Carriers of Ukraine.