In Ukraine, announced the large construction of roads. The budget is unprecedented in the history of the country: in 2020 it is planned to attract UAH 86.5 billion to implement the plan. Let’s imagine that not only the claimed 6 thousand km, but all roads of state and local significance have been repaired and built, and Ukraine begins a new large-scale construction of infrastructure projects. What could it be?
Outboard transport. This is probably the ideal city transport – it takes up little space, is fast, beautiful, comfortable and costs less than a metro or a full-fledged light rail line. In addition, it can be laid even in the conditions of the existing infrastructure and even where it is impossible to use other types of transport. Asian examples look futuristic and therefore seem unattainable, but, for example, one of the most famous monorails in the world – the Wuppertal suspension road – was opened in 1901. Just imagine – almost 120 years ago. Today, the 13.3 km long road consists of 20 stations and serves 65 thousand passengers per day. Could it be worth learning from? Kiev residents are already amused by the news about the “metro to Troieschina”, and new metro stations in Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk have been “built” for decades, smaller cities cannot even dream of such a thing. Outboard transport can easily and inexpensively solve the problem of movement. The cost of building a metro to Troieschina is estimated at $ 3 billion, the construction of a flyover for a monorail – from 20 to 100 million dollars, 30 wagons for it – another about 140 million dollars. From the center of Kiev to the edge of the Troieschina – 15-20 km, depending on the chosen path. Count for yourself. Can we spend this money profitably and wisely?
Sewerage. This is the worst communal network of Ukraine – it is just in a terrible state. Japan intends to finance the reconstruction of the Bortnichskaya aeration station for almost a billion dollars at 0.1% for a period of 40 years. Think Kiev caught the jackpot. But what about sewer infrastructure in other, less affluent, cities, if even in the capital the second string of the collector was built for 24 years? I don’t want to scare anyone, but soon Ukraine can simply drown. According to the State Statistics Service, in Ukraine only 10 million apartments out of 17 are equipped with sewage. Yes, more than 40% of Ukrainians live as Europeans – not just as modern, but as a variant of the 19th century. Despite the fact that even in ancient Egypt 2500 years BC there was a sewage system. We have two global problems: existing networks are on the verge of a breakthrough, and half of the country lives without networks at all. A few years ago, the European Commission threatened to fine Lithuania for the fact that 28% of the country’s inhabitants are not connected to a centralized sewage system. According to the EU directive, in settlements with a population of more than 2 thousand people, a central sewerage must operate and as a conscientious country, Lithuania has adopted the necessary laws in order to fulfill all the requirements already in 2021. Yes, the population of Lithuania and Ukraine are not comparable: 2.8 million against 37.3. But how many years and money will it take us to reach at least the level of Lithuania?
Alternative energy. It is becoming more common and affordable. Last spring, the European Parliament supported the complete rejection of the use of coal for energy by 2030. In addition, in Europe there is a plan to increase the share of alternative energy in the region’s energy generation to 32% by the same year 2030. And for example, in the energy balance of Iceland, the share of renewable energy is now more than 70%. And although this is an exception to the rule, the share of green energy will only grow – including in Ukraine. Especially because now our country produces a little more than 5% of green energy. The problem is how to store this energy. Let me explain in simple words: a certain station continuously produces energy, but due to the fact that there is no consumption at night, it needs to be accumulated somewhere. And nowhere. Therefore, we need batteries – cheap, heavy duty, environmentally friendly and capacious. Now peaks in consumption are smoothed out due to coal stations, but I remind you that Ukraine will soon have to do something with them. So we need storage stations. This is an extremely promising niche in which we need to invest money, time and minds. There is an ideal dream that we will have such a precise generation of energy that due to constant overflows the system will align itself and no storage places will be needed. But for now, it looks even more futuristic than flying to Mars without a spacesuit.
According to McKinsey Global Institute, global infrastructure costs today are about $ 2.5 trillion a year, and the socio-economic profitability of the infrastructure created is estimated at 20%: That is, every dollar invested in infrastructure can increase GDP by 20 cents in the long term. The nominal GDP of Ukraine today is 1105.5 billion UAH, or 44.22 billion dollars. What if not infrastructure development will allow us to achieve GDP growth of 40%? And what is needed is not less than 88.44 billion dollars.
Let’s start a new large-scale construction.
Andriy Ryzhykov, CEO and managing partner of DC Evolution