OREANDA-NEWS. March 17, 2015. The Government planned in the State Budget around a billion hryvnias for road repairs. Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk instructed Ukravtodor to immediately use these funds, "The winter is over, as a rule we have it that asphalt disappears together with the snow. Hence, urgent repair of roads", stressed the Head of Government at the meeting of the State Emergency Commission on Monday, March 16.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk commissioned Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Andrii Pivovarsky to assume special control over this issue.

The Finance Ministry of Ukraine was instructed to stir up financing the abovementioned expenditures. Moreover, the PM stressed the need to monitor the use of funds, "The situation is we have ten holes repaired but one hundred holes reported. This must change".

The Prime Minister also stressed the need to repair those roads within responsibility of local councils, "Additional resource base and revenues have been provided by us. Please, use these funds to repair the roads”.

According to him, a general concept of road construction proves necessary in Ukraine, "not just to repair potholes, as while we are engaged into repairing of existing potholes, other holes appear".

Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed the Cabinet of Ministers is resolute to allocate governmental guarantees "to build new qualitative roads".

He urged we should embark on negotiations with international partners to increase funding for the construction of roads. "After a loan from the International Monetary Fund there has become available for us funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and from the European Investment Bank as well,” he stressed that Ukraine had already signed a EBRD project on road construction worth USD 150 million.

At this, the construction of roads should be conducted not only by foreign companies, "We should increase a localization percent: our employees, our vehicles, our gravel, our asphalt – we should attract everything we have."

"It means jobs, employment for Ukrainian citizens, the revenues for the budget, loaded production capacities. This means the European quality of life," he said.

According to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, quality roads will also contribute to reducing the transportation cost, "Quality roads objectively affect economic growth – efficient transportation, less wasted fuel, less spending on repair of motor vehicles".

Moreover, the PM accentuated the need to maintain technical monitoring over repair activities carried by Ukravtodor and regional road companies by foreign companies.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk suggested using the services of German companies, "that are the best in this matter" to afford them "starting to provide selective control and selective technical monitoring over conducted by Ukravtodor and regional road companies activities on repair and reconstruction of roads".

"Then we'll see the level of quality of these activities and whether the funds are written off or applied", he said.

"It is cheaper for us to finance from the budget the activity of a company, that will deal with selective monitoring, than to pay billions and then lose where they are spent," stressed the Head of Government.