Transformation of Ukrainian transport system and its perspectives for the EU integration
Transformation of Ukrainian transport system and its perspectives for the EU integration

Author(s): Sandra Baniak
Subject(s): Economic policy, Transport / Logistics, Russian war against Ukraine
Published by: EUROPEUM - Institut pro evropskou politiku
Summary/Abstract: Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to significant changes in the Ukrainian transport sector due to disruptions in supply chains, cargo flows, and damage of the country’s infrastructure. The Ukrainian transport system has undergone significant transformations. The country's borders with Russia and Belarus and its airspace have been closed. In the first months of the full-scale war, the temporary blockage on the operation of Black Sea ports forced Ukraine to develop land transport corridors to the EU countries and neighboring Moldova to enable both export and import of goods needed for the economy. Despite the ongoing war, Ukraine has accelerated a long-planned reform of the country's transport system to adapt its infrastructure to the EU standards and integrate it with the European transport network. Ukraine, as well as other countries like Belarus, Moldova and the Baltic states, inherited broad-gauge infrastructure (1520 mm) from the USSR. For economic and security reasons and symbolic connection with European transport infrastructure, the construction of standard-gauge railways (1435 mm) remains a high priority for the country. In the recent revision of the TEN-T network, four corridors were extended to Ukraine. In addition, since 2023, Ukraine can apply for funds for transport infrastructure projects under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport instrument, which shows the highest priority given to transport connectivity by the European Commission (EC). One of the main challenges in the context of Ukraine's European integration process is how to fully transform the local transport sector, link it to the EU transport infrastructure and adapt it to the EU standards.

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