Inter Road builders are repairing the Kyiv-Odesa highway

The road to the sea is being overhauled. 70 kilometers of the Kyiv-Odesa highway near the capital are being practically rebuilt. They say that by 2015 this section will be unrecognizable. The money spent on repairs is worth billions, but how long will the fresh asphalt last? Lyudmyla Horbach knows what the officials boasted about and what they were reluctant to tell.

Stands, officials, and roadside dust. The Kyiv-Odesa highway is being repaired. Cars rush past the plastic bumpers with a roar. We have to listen to the road builders boasting about the mega-building.

Volodymyr Sarancha, chief engineer of the Ukrainian Road Service in Kyiv region:

- The estimated cost of repairing the 71st kilometer is UAH 2 billion 660 million.

It takes a year and a half for everything. The track should last at least 10 years without any problems. This is the guarantee given by the contractor. Only customers seem to have little confidence.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, Deputy Head of the State Road Agency of Ukraine:

- I am almost sure!

This same road was repaired in 2003 and 2007 on a grand scale. The road builders make excuses: there are more and more cars every year, and the road can't take it anymore. Experts say it's not the number of cars, but the conscience of the repairmen.

Viktor Medvid, director of a consulting company:

- This road was supposed to last until about 2025, yes. But, as we can see, in 2010, it became unusable after only five years of normal operation.

Viktor Medved also believes that the road is too expensive. Judging by the cost, this is not a repair at all, but laying the road from scratch.

Viktor Medvid, director of a consulting company:

- The price of the road is actually four times more expensive, which means that it should be some kind of super expensive road. That is, you can build two roads for this money, in principle.

And it will be even more expensive. After all, they build on credit. But road builders can't remember the interest rate at which the money was borrowed from bankers.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, Deputy Head of the State Road Agency of Ukraine:

- I can't tell you the exact interest rate right now. I can tell you relatively. A percentage. Vladimir Mikhailovich? I won't tell you!

The workers take another section of the Kyiv-Odesa highway into service, put up plastic bumpers and go to lunch. Drivers grumble, occasionally honk their horns, and literally push into the oncoming lane.

Ivan Tonchev, head of the Rostdorstroy site:

- We are trying, not trying, but working at night. In order to give people the opportunity to leave and enter the city of Kyiv normally.

On the eve of Independence Day, road workers promise not to go to work at all. They figure that there will be plenty of people who want to rush south for a three-day weekend.