Washington, September 20, 2012 - Today the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a US$450 million loan for the Second Roads and Safety Improvement Project (RSIP2) in Ukraine. The project will improve condition and quality of sections of the Kyiv-Kharkiv road between the cities of Lubny and Poltava and enhance road safety for the whole network of Ukraine’s roads.
“The project will lead to the reduction of cost and time spent on moving people and goods on this key road artery of country,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. “It will also contribute to improved road safety on selected road corridors and decrease the number of road accidents. The project will bring significant positive social and economic benefits to local communities by creating more economic activities and jobs.”
The Second Roads and Safety Improvement Project will be implemented by Ukravtodor, the State Road Agency of Ukraine. The primary beneficiaries of the project are Ukraine’s road users and the local communities. The RSIP2 is a follow-up project to the ongoing Roads and Safety Improvement Project (RSIP1) in the amount of US$ 400 million which was approved by the World Bank Board in 2009. Implementation of RSIP1 has been progressing well and has improved significantly road conditions and safety of the Kyiv-Kharkiv road between the cities of Boryspil and Lubly.
The new project will also help Ukraine to make its roads safer in the context of the United Nations Decade for Road Safety. Ukraine has one of the worst track records in the Europe and Central Asia region in terms of number of road traffic mortality rates (above 20 traffic deaths per year per 100,000 people, compared to less than 5 in many European Union countries) and applying safe road engineering measures such as intersection improvements, road markings, and pedestrian facilities. All the road safety features that are part of the new project will contribute to increasing safety of Ukraine’s road users.
The project is also fully consistent with the new Country Partnership Strategy for Ukraine for 2012-16 years. Since Ukraine joined the World Bank in 1992, commitments to the country total over US$ 7.5 billion for 41 operations.
