«The prioritization of money is different»: Kim explained that with the construction of the Mykolaiv bypass road

Trucks on the highway in the Mykolaiv region, archival photo of «NykVesty"

The construction of the bypass road around Mykolaiv has been postponed for the time being. This is related to the priority allocation of budget funds, since at the moment the primary task is the restoration of water supply in the city.

During the briefing, the head of Mykolaiv RMA, Vitalii Kim, said this, NikVesti writes.

«Mykolaiv bypass on a break. For objective reasons, due to the fact that the prioritization of money is a little different. Including water,» he said.

Vitalii Kim also told at what stage the repair of the Varvarivskyi and Inhulskyi bridges is at today. He noted that preparations for repairs are already underway, but the head of the RMA cannot yet say when the work will be completed and how much money will be spent on it.

«As for the Inhulskyi and Varvarivskyi bridges, they are transferred to the state balance sheet. Something that has not been done there for many years. And now there is a clear management body that has to repair them and will do it in this legal way. In fact, the work has already begun somewhat, what you see is the preparation. It is not necessary to say now about the terms, when and how much money will be used, because they will not do it,» said Vitalii Kim.

Bypass road near Mykolaiv

We will remind you that in December 2023, the state reconstruction agency announced that they plan to build a bypass road near Mykolaiv. Currently, the planned start of the first stage is the construction of an interchange on the M-14 highway. at the same time, it was noted that the construction of the traffic junction on the M-14 highway, kilometers 121+360, with a length of 3.5 kilometers, is already starting, which is the first stage of the construction of the Mykolaiv bypass. 3 new overpasses will be built there. The cost of the works is 2.4 billion hryvnias.

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

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

Such a project has been discussed since 1989, since the problem of taking transit transport outside the city has existed for many years. In addition, the Varvarivskyi and Inhulskyi bridge crossings in Mykolaiv need to be repaired, and the organization of a bypass route for the period of repair is critically needed.

In December of the same year, the Service for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure in the Mykolaiv region announced a tender for the construction of a transport interchange for the future bypass road worth 2.2 billion hryvnias, but it was canceled. Later in January 2024, the service announced a retender with the same value. According to the tender, the construction of the intersection was supposed to be completed by April 30, 2025, but the tender was also canceled.

Vararivskyi bridge

We will remind you that during the meeting on October 13, the Government made a decision to transfer the Ingulsky and Yuzhnobuzkyi (Varvarivskyi) bridges in Mykolaiv to state ownership. After that, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Mustafa Naiiem, told about the stage of the Mykolaiv bypass bridge project and the plans for the repair of the Varvarivskyi and Inhulskyi bridges.

Varvarivskyi bridge in Mykolaiv. Archive photo of NikVesti

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 Varvarivskyi Bridge as state property. 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's 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 Tetiana 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 handing over 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 Varvarivskyi bridge will be considered only after it is transferred to state ownership.

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