Slovakia to Launch Train to Ukraine in December and Asks for €143m from EU
The new Kyiv-Bratislava railway route with a stopover in Chop, Ukraine, is scheduled to be launched in mid-December. This was reported by Slovak publications Startitup and Aktuality, as well as the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
This agreement was reached during the sixth meeting of the Ukrainian-Slovak Mixed Commission.
According to Aktuality, Slovakia has requested 143 million euros from the EU for this purpose. It has applied to the European Commission for this amount to be allocated from the EU budget in the form of guarantees and grants.
According to Peter Kmec, Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia for Recovery, Resilience and Use of European Funds, the Kyiv-Bratislava railway connection is scheduled to be launched in mid-December with a change of train in Chop. In the future, it is planned to create a direct line Uzhhorod - Chop - Kosice - Bratislava with the possibility of extending the route to other European countries.
‘We see an increase in the volume of rail freight traffic both last year and this year. Passenger traffic is also growing. That is why it is so important for us to develop international rail passenger traffic between Ukraine and Slovakia,’ said Yulia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
During the meeting, the parties discussed the modernisation of the Uzhhorod-Vysne Nemecke border crossing point, the expansion of the capacity of the Maly Berezny-Ubl'a border crossing point and the possibility of opening the Pavlove-Matiovce railway crossing point for passenger traffic.
In addition, Slovakia has launched a mechanism for attracting funding from third countries to support joint projects to restore Ukraine.
Within the Ukraine Investment Framework, 4 projects in the energy sector have already been submitted for a total of €143 million. Among them is the reconstruction of the Mukachevo - Veľké Kapušany interconnector, the first phase of which is scheduled to be completed in 2026.