«Not the time»: Kim explains why construction of road bypassing Mykolaiv was suspended

The head of the Mykolaiv regional military administration, Vitalii Kim, said that the construction of a bypass road near Mykolaiv is «not on time».

He said this during a press conference on 30 December, according to NikVesti.

However, Vitalii Kim stressed that once the ports resume operations, it will not be difficult to return to the construction of the bypass road.

«The bypass road is not on the agenda now. We are not building it because the ports are not working, it will not be difficult to restore it, and the project to build a four-lane road to Odesa has not been cancelled. The only question is funding. The issue of completing the bypass road has not been abandoned either, and the bridge (across the Southern Bug) is on hold».

Also, according to him, the repair of the Inhulskyi and Varvarivskyi bridges continues:

«As you can see, we have been repairing Varvarivskyi bridge for several months now, lane by lane».

Construction of the bypass road and bridge across the Southern Bug: what is known

In December 2023, it became known that a bypass road was planned to be built near Mykolaiv. Initially, it was planned to build a junction on the M-14 highway.

In total, as reported by the State Agency for Infrastructure Reconstruction and Development, three new overpasses will be built on the M-14 «Odesa — Melitopol — Novoazovsk» highway connecting Odesa and Mykolaiv regions. The cost of the works is 2.4 billion hryvnias. Next, construction of a bridge crossing over the Southern Bug was planned to begin.

The project presentation notes that 100% of southern traffic passes through the city of Mykolaiv, and the construction of a new bypass has been discussed since 1989. The problem of moving transit transport outside the city has existed for many years. The pavement of the M-13, P-55, P-75, P-81, and other motorways has already been destroyed in the region.

The location of the bypass road near Mykolaiv, screenshot of the State Agency for Reconstruction presentation

Transport interchange near Mykolaiv, screenshot of the State Agency for Reconstruction presentation

In December of the same year, the Mykolaiv Oblast Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service announced a 2.2 billion hryvnias tender for the construction of a transport interchange for the future bypass road, but it was cancelled. Later in January 2024, the service announced a second tender with the same price. According to the tender, the construction of the interchange was to be completed by 30 April 2025, but the tender was also cancelled.

Varvarivskyi Bridge

On 13 October, the Government decided to transfer the Inhulskyi and Pivdenobuzkyi (Varvarivskyi) bridges in Mykolaiv to state ownership. Afterwards, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Mustafa Naiiem spoke about the current stage of the project to bypass Mykolaiv and plans to repair the Varvarivskyi and Inhulskyi bridges.

Varvarivskyi Bridge in Mykolaiv. Archive photo NikVesti

As you know, the Varvarivskyi Bridge in Mykolaiv is part of the international highway M-14 «Odesa-Melitopol-Novoazovsk» and is currently in a state of disrepair. In February 2020, the process of transferring the bridge from the municipal property of the city to the balance sheet of Ukravtodor began, but to date it has not been completed. This is due to the fact that in order to transfer Varvarivskyi Bridge to state ownership, the Ministry of Finance asks Mykolaiv to provide the cost of reconstruction of the structure. To do this, the city needs to conduct an expert examination and order design and estimate documentation for the bridge's repair, the total cost of which is about 20 million hryvnias. The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, said that the city budget does not have the funds for this.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also aware of the need to repair Varvarivskyi Bridge. In July 2019, the head of state said that solving the problem of Varvarivskyi Bridge was a top priority for the governor. Four months later, during a briefing in Ochakiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy raised the issue again. Then he forced the then governor of Mykolaiv region, Oleksandr Stadnyk, to promise to repair the Varvarivskyi Bridge by the end of 2020.

The issue of transferring the Varvarivskyi Bridge was also taken up by Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council. In July 2021, she initiated a meeting with the Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov, representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Ukravtodor and the city council to address the issue of the bridge transfer. However, this did not yield any results, as the issue was not resolved two months later. At the same time, «Ukravtodor» said that the issue of allocating money for the repair of the Varvarivskyi Bridge would be considered only after it was transferred to state ownership.

At the same time, the bridge has recently suffered four breakdowns. The first one happened on 6 December, the second on 20 December. At that time, «ELU Avtodorig» reported that there was an emergency with the structure of a part of Varvarivskyi Bridge. The third transport collapse occurred due to the breakdown of a part of the Varvarivskyi Bridge on 2 February. On 5 April, the Varvarivskyi Bridge broke down for the fourth time. It turned out that a metal plate on the bridge had come off. The bridge was last repaired in May this year.