Ministry of Transport and Communications: New platform for rebuilding Ukraine's transport infrastructure launched in Kyiv

Lithuanian Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis, on a visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, presented a new cooperation and support platform CIG4U, initiated by Lithuania, Sweden, Canada and Ukraine, to support the reconstruction of Ukraine’s transport infrastructure. CIG4U, launched at the International Transport Forum (ITF), is one of the priority activities of the Lithuanian ITF Presidency.

As Lithuania currently holds the ITF Presidency, Mr Skuodis presented the new international support format CIG4U in Kyiv together with Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Andreas Carlson, Minister of Infrastructure of Sweden, Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport of Canada (via remote access) and Young Tae Kim, Secretary General of the ITF. 

“Lithuania strongly supports the Ukrainian people’s fight for freedom. At the International Transport Forum, we are consistently working with like-minded countries to help Ukraine rebuild its critical transport infrastructure. We hope that the new support platform will bring the international community together toward common goals and will allow us to make a significant contribution to the effective and sustainable reconstruction of Ukraine,” said Minister of Transport and Communications M. Skuodis.

Lithuania, Canada and Sweden, which are initiating the CIG4U platform for the ITF, will help Ukraine to meet its immediate transport needs by contributing to the long-term reconstruction of the country’s transport links. The ITF platform will also coordinate the mobilisation of international support for the reconstruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure, ensuring transparent use of aid for Ukraine’s key priorities. 

In the transport sector, around 20 projects have been identified and will now be prioritised by Ukraine. One of the first projects funded by Canada is being implemented by the ITF in Ukraine's road and rail freight sectors. 

It is envisaged that the parties to the CIG4U platform will regularly exchange up-to-date information on both Ukraine’s immediate needs and long-term measures to ensure the functioning, safety and sustainable development of Ukraine’s transport systems for the future.  In addition, the CIG4U platform will provide Ukraine with analytical support to help plan the development of strategic infrastructure and future transport corridors. More ITF member countries, international organisations and financial institutions are expected to join this CIG4U.

During the joint ministerial meeting in Kyiv, Mr Skuodis also stressed the utmost importance for Lithuania to develop the North-South transport corridor connecting the Baltic, Black and Aegean Seas. Lithuania’s proposal to add a European railway line to Klaipėda to the new TEN-T trans-European transport network also includes new military mobility links between Lithuania and Poland. 

The new TEN-T already includes an additional North-Baltic Maritime Corridor link to Ukraine via the Yagodyn-Dorohusk border crossing—the closest transport link between Lithuania, the Baltic States and Ukraine—in a joint initiative between Lithuania and Ukraine. 

“We need to connect the Baltic and Black Seas through transport corridors with sufficient capacity, and to transform the existing rail links from the port of Klaipėda all the way to Odessa and other Ukrainian ports into a TEN-T corridor with a European gauge. Additional transport links with Poland and Ukraine will allow for greater passenger, freight and military mobility”, said Mr Skuodis.

The official ITF press release on this topic can be found here.

The ITF is an intergovernmental organisation with 66 member countries. ITF is the only global body that covers all transport modes, bringing together transport policy makers, practitioners and analysts from around the world.

Lithuania holds the ITF Presidency since May 2023.