Expert: Repair of Shuliavskyi Bridge may be delayed indefinitely

The Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) is deliberately delaying the repair of the Shuliavskyi Bridge.

This was stated by Viktor Medvid, Director of William Invest Expert Consulting Company, in a commentary to GolosUA.

"The repair of the Shuliavskyi Bridge has not started for several years due to the lack of professionalism of the Kyiv authorities. In particular, due to incompetence, which does not allow for prompt decision-making on important issues, and the corruption component. The mayor's office primarily focuses on the interests of close associates who need time to prepare and master corruption flows. Time is lost while all the schemes are being carried out. The result is a long-lasting repair of the Shuliavskyi bridge," said Mr. Medved.

According to him, due to the unprofessional approach, the repair of the Shulyavsky Bridge may drag on indefinitely.

"Tenders are won by non-core companies. That is, not those that specialize in this issue, but companies associated with the government. If the repairs were carried out by specialists, it would be within the predicted timeframe. Currently, organizations are only preparing to use the funds. If the tender had been held on transparent terms, the repair of the Shuliavskyi Bridge could have been completed in a year. That is, from the moment of the initiative to the moment of implementation," emphasized Mr. Medved.

He clarified that the Kyiv City State Administration could have resolved the issue of repairing the Shuliavskyi Bridge last year using the funds that remained in the city budget.

"At the end of 2018, the capital budget had a surplus. At the moment, the Kyiv City State Administration is not interested in a quick repair of the Shuliavskyi Bridge, because it has already received funds, and it has no motivation to build the bridge quickly and efficiently," Medved summarized.

According to experts, the reconstruction will increase the capacity of the overpass by 20 percent. The new overpass will be 158 meters long and have six lanes. The left-turn exits will be 293 meters long and have 2 lanes, while the right-turn exit will be 561 meters long and also have 2 lanes. A 2-meter-wide bicycle lane with a total length of 985 meters will be built at the new interchange. In one of the sections, the route for cyclists will run underground. The total cost of the reconstruction is UAH 830.12 million. The construction period is 17 months.