People's deputy Chornomorov asked the Mykolayiv RMA to report on the transfer of the Varvarivskyi bridge to the state

Varvarivsky bridge, archival photo of «Nikvesti"

People's Deputy of Ukraine Artem Chornomorov appealed to the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration with a request to provide information on the stage of the process of transferring the Yuzhnobuzkyi (Varvarivskyi) bridge to the state balance sheet.

Artem Chornomorov published a copy of the appeal in his Telegram channel.

As you know, traffic jams occurred in Mykolaiv on the morning of December 6 in the area of the Varvarivskyi Bridge and along Heroiv Ukrainy Avenue. The transport collapse occurred due to the breakdown of a part of the Varvariv bridge and its emergency removal. Specialists of the utility company ELU Avtodorih of the Mykolaiv City Council were engaged in urgent emergency repairs.

During the meeting on October 13, the government decided to transfer the Ingulsky and Yuzhnobuzkyi (Varvarivskyi) bridges in Mykolaiv to state ownership. After that, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Mustafa Naiem, told about the stage of the Mykolaiv bypass bridge project and the plans for the repair of the Varvarivskyi and Inhulskyi bridges.

In a comment to NikVesti, the director of the enterprise, Vitalii Shevchenko, said that the process of documenting the transfer of the bridge from city ownership to state ownership is still ongoing.

«Back in October, the Government made a decision to transfer the Varvarivskyi Bridge from the balance of Mykolaiv to Ukravtodor. Almost 2 months have passed, but the status of this critical infrastructure facility is still unknown. I learned from the mass media about the accident that happened to a structural element of the bridge, so I had to send a request to the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, since the bridge currently plays an extremely important role in the defense of Southern Ukraine,» wrote Artem Chornomorov.

He asked the Mykolaiv RMA to inform at what stage the transfer of the bridge from communal ownership to the ownership of Ukravtodor is at, whether an examination and ordering of design and estimate documentation for the repair of this object was carried out, and what algorithm of actions the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration envisages, and what actions have already been taken for solving this issue.

As you know, Varvarivskyi Bridge in Mykolaiv is part of the M-14 highway of international importance «Odesa — Melitopol — Novoazovsk» and is currently in a state of emergency. In February 2020, the process of transferring the bridge from the municipal ownership of the city to the balance sheet of Ukravtodor began, but it has not yet been completed. This is due to the fact that the Ministry of Finance is asking Mykolaiv to provide the cost of reconstruction of the building in order to accept the Varvarivskyi bridge into state ownership. For this, the city needs to conduct an examination and order design and estimate documentation for the repair of the bridge, the total cost of which is about 20 million hryvnias. The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, said that there are no funds for this in the city budget.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also aware of the need to repair the Varvarivskyi bridge. In July 2019, the head of state announced that solving the problem of the Varvarivskyi bridge is the governor's first priority. Four months later, during a briefing in Ochakiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced this issue again. Then he forced the acting governor of the Mykolaiv Oblast Oleksandr Stadnyk to promise to repair the Varvarivskyi bridge by the end of 2020.

The issue of the transfer of the Varvarivskyi bridge was also addressed by the member of the Mykolaiv City Council Tetyana Dombrovska. In July 2021, she initiated a meeting with the participation of the Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov, representatives of the Ministry of Finance, «Ukravtodor» and the city council, in order to understand the issue of the transfer of the bridge. However, this also did not give results, because after two months the issue was not resolved. At the same time, «Ukravtodor» reported that the question of allocating money for the repair of the Varvariv bridge will be considered only after it is transferred to state ownership.