Expert: The law on toll roads construction adopted by the Rada is another corruption scheme

The law on the construction of toll roads passed by the Verkhovna Rada is yet another corruption scheme that will benefit Ukrainian officials.

This was stated by transport expert Viktor Medved in a comment to GolosUA.

"The law on the construction of toll roads adopted by the Verkhovna Rada is yet another money laundering scheme that will benefit Ukrainian officials. Private roads are supposed to be an alternative to public roads, but to do so, the existing roadway must first be repaired. Otherwise, Ukrainians will be forced to travel only on private roads and pay money. Local authorities will deliberately sabotage the process of repairing public roads," Medved said.

The expert did not rule out that the government would deliberately overestimate the cost of building private roads and receive tax benefits.

"The fare will depend on the distance and type of transport. For example, in Poland, it will cost 20 euros to drive across a certain section of the road. If there is no alternative, Ukrainians will be forced to travel on toll roads," Mr. Medved summarized.

On February 27, the Verkhovna Rada updated Ukrainian legislation to attract private investors to build concession roads. The roads will be new, of the first category, in high-traffic areas and will be toll roads.

Toll roads will appear no sooner than 2019, and we are not talking about a large number of routes yet. Firstly, even in rich European countries, the length of toll roads is calculated as a percentage, and the road network there is longer than in Ukraine. Secondly, the two priority sections were identified long ago - initially, they focused on the Lviv-Krakovets route (now, however, the route will be different - from Lviv to the border with Poland) and Kyiv-Bila Tserkva.