The European Union allocated a €13.9 million grant to improve road transport infrastructure at the state border crossing points between Ukraine, Moldova and Romania, Gordonua.com reported, with reference to the Ukrainian authorities.

The grant covers both Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and is designed to modernize the service area for heavy trucks at the checkpoints “Reni (Ukraine) – Giurgiulesti (Moldova) – Galati (Romania)” within the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility. The Ukrainian authorities recently informed that the Reni – Giurgiulesti checkpoint is one of the main checkpoints in the entire southern region of Ukraine, through which about 150 trucks with export and import products pass daily.

The allocations will be dedicated, in particular, to the modernization of the road connecting the border checkpoints between Reni and Galati and the construction of a bypass on the northern side of Giurgiulesti. It is also planned to build two parking areas for heavy trucks in the area between Ukraine, Moldova and Romania along the Trans-European Transport (TEN-T) Network, which the Ukrainians will build in Odessa. These locations have a strategic role in transporting goods by trucks to the ports in the region, including to Romania’s Galati, the agency noted.

The main goal of the project is to increase capacity under the main “EU Solidarity Lane”, which will facilitate Ukraine’s export and import operations.

The quoted source also mentioned other projects to increase the connectivity capacity between Ukraine and the EU in the vicinity of the Republic of Moldova: the introduction of RIS (river information services – IPN) technologies and services on the Ukrainian section of the Danube River (€4.8 million) and research and works on the integration of the Ukrainian railway system into the European one (€42.9 million).