IBTTA Visit to Ukraine Points to Potential for Future Concession Development

Pat Jones visited Kiev last week to meet with member Corporation UKRMOSTOBUD and senior officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, and the State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine to discuss the country’s first toll project. From left to right, Ihor Dir, Ambassador of Ukraine, Pat Jones, Executive Director and CEO, IBTTA, IBTTA members Matt Milligan, Managing Partner, Milligan Partners, and Mykhailo Opanashchenko, Chairman of the Board, Corporation UKRMOSTOBUD.

Even in a world of virtual technology and global telecommunications, there are times and places when there’s just no substitute for meeting face to face.

Which is why it was so important that IBTTA Executive Director and CEO Patrick Jones traveled to Ukraine last month to meet with IBTTA Member Corporation MOSTOBUD, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan and several other government officials in the days following the association’s International Summit in Rome October 16-17.

Ukraine is at a pivotal moment in planning for major growth in its transportation infrastructure, taking advantage of developments across the Eurasian region that might translate into some once-in-a-generation opportunities. Jones was right around the corner (more or less) in Rome, and was happy to oblige with a slightly more complex itinerary on the way home.

A ‘Strong Country’ Needs Sound Infrastructure

“Our goal is to build a strong country through the reconstruction of roads and bridges and the development of infrastructure,” Omelyan told national media after the meeting. “Attraction of foreign companies is an opportunity to connect Ukraine with EU countries and the world.”

He also pointed to an immediate barrier to that economic development that will sound familiar to tolling professionals and transportation planners everywhere, estimating that 60% of Ukraine’s bridges and tunnels have exceeded their intended lifespan and are in need of reconstruction.

“We are actively restoring highways and bridges,” he said. “This is our main task now, and for the next few years.” That focus is leading the country toward introducing its first-ever highway concession project, a multi-lane freight corridor that will span the country from the eastern border with Hungary.

“I would like to see American countries in Ukraine in each of these spheres,” Omelyan said. “The presence of global companies is the country’s best promotion in the international business environment.”

Finding Common Ground

Omelyan and Jones reached no final conclusions in their discussions last month—that wasn’t the point or the purpose of the meeting. IBTTA’s role in this type of international dialogue is to forge new relationships and find common ground that will eventually lead to new business opportunities for members and a stronger global industry

Jones and Matt Milligan of Milligan Partners, who also had contacts and colleagues to meet with in the Ukraine, were excited by the knowledge, commitment, and momentum they encountered.

“All the people we met with are well aware that they have many challenges ahead, the path will be difficult, and they need expertise and resources from outside the country to make it happen,” Jones says. “It was exciting to be in meetings all day with senior officials from three different government agencies who are all pulling on the same rope—a rope to help make major improvements in the country’s infrastructure.”

About IBTTA

The International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association (IBTTA) is the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities and the businesses that serve them. Founded in 1932, IBTTA has members in 25 countries on six continents. Through advocacy, thought leadership and education, members are implementing state-of-the-art, innovative user-based transportation financing solutions to address the critical infrastructure challenges of the 21st Century.