At its meeting on 5 November, the Kyiv City Council plans to allocate UAH 1bn for a project to build combined water crossings over the Dnipro River and access routes to them. Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported this on Telegram.
The initiative was put forward by the state, and the government has already adopted a resolution. The locations of the crossings will be determined by the military command and approved, among others, by the Kyiv City Military Administration.
“The government recommended that Kyiv allocate UAH 1bn from the city budget. And we have found these funds. So we must adopt a decision to allocate them and transfer them to state bodies to implement the project,” he said.
The city council also plans to consider increasing the capital’s material reserve. It wants to allocate a further UAH 350m for additional purchases of 3.5 million litres of diesel fuel needed to prevent emergencies and deal with their consequences.
Another UAH 1bn will be allocated to support the Security and Defence Forces. In this way, the city will direct UAH 6bn this year to support the army.
“Kyiv is operating under extremely difficult conditions. The city authorities are doing everything to keep the capital running. We are working through different scenarios, as the enemy is intensifying attacks on the energy sector and heat generation, and on water supply systems. Some people today are talking about some kind of ‘offices’ for Kyiv. I would note that since spring we have had an energy headquarters working to ensure the capital’s vital services; the city has brought in experts, energy specialists, practitioners and scientists. The headquarters has developed possible measures for different scenarios. We cannot talk publicly about everything,” he said.
Context
After Russian strikes on bridges over the Dnipro in Kyiv, Infrastructure Minister Mykola Kalashnyk said that Kyiv is planning to build alternative crossings. Klitschko noted that Kyiv is ready for such a decision, but no pontoon crossing can fully replace the bridges.
According to Kalashnyk, they want to build 21 alternative crossings in total. He promised to bring the first bridges into operation by the end of the year.