Will Russian oligarchs make money on Ukrainian roads?

In the Lviv region, they are planning a major overhaul of the M-09 Lviv – Rava-Russkaya road. This is the route to the Ukrainian-Polish border. The repair area is about 62 km.

I know this route. Caravans of trucks. Traffic jams. Very dense traffic, the surface cannot withstand the load, the road is collapsing.

Of course, the priority now is fortification at the front. But the money for repairs comes from the budget. They are attracting a 182 million euro loan from the EBRD.

Is it possible to redirect funds to the needs of the Defense Forces? No you can not. The agreement is still 2020. Targeted loan. Exclusively for a strategically important infrastructure project. No options. Either we take advantage of the opportunity, or we get nothing.

Therefore, the only question is who will implement it? Or at least the taxes will go to the Ukrainian budget?

According to my information, the project is divided into two lots. Several companies have already been selected between which they will be divided.

Why are they trying to hide this fact from society?

The first company is the Polish branch of the European concern Strabag. Will Poland allow a Ukrainian company into its market to build or repair a highway?

Judging by the way Polish business is fighting for its own interests, I think that this is impossible. But that’s not even the question. Among the owners of Strabag is the Russian Rasperia Trading Limited, which belongs to the sanctioned Putin oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Last year, Rasperia's representative on the supervisory board resigned. Dividends are allegedly not transferred to Russians, and the money is collected in a separate account. However, Deripaska officially remains the owner of the company and will be entitled to his share of the profits from the project in Ukraine.

Does the State Agency for Reconstruction and Development know about this?

The second company is the Turkish IC İçtaş İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.

Last year, the Latvian security service did not recommend allowing the company to participate in the construction of a new railway line. After all, IC İçtaş closely cooperates with the Russian Federation. The Turks built bridges in St. Petersburg, an airport terminal, and an expressway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. It is the main contractor for the construction of a Russian nuclear power plant in Turkey (the general contractor for the construction is the Titan-2 company, headed by Grigory Naginsky, former Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation).

That is, the Latvians understand the risks, and the Ukrainians are ready to provide strategic contracts to Putin’s Turkish friends?

The third company is AZViRT from Azerbaijan. The company belongs to the Aliyev family. It works in its own country and in Serbia, where cooperation with AZViRT is given the status of an interstate partnership. The company's work in Ukraine was accompanied by scandals and accusations of missed deadlines and inadequate quality.

But something else is key. A year ago, at a special session at the UN General Assembly, official Baku decided not to participate in the vote to condemn the Russian invasion. Why spoil relations with Putin? By the way, recently the latter sincerely congratulated his Azerbaijani colleague on his re-election to the presidency. Azerbaijan continues to be a member of the CSTO. This is their position, their priorities. They have a right. But Ukraine also has the right to set economic and political priorities? Is not it?

The President announced the “Buy Ukrainian” program. The initiative of the head of state does not concern infrastructure? We don’t have any Ukrainian companies from whom we can purchase major repair services?

Maybe our top infrastructure officials have a different vision than the President?

So tell us!