Ukraine embarks on transparency initiative in road construction and repair

On Tuesday, October 20, there was signed a tripartite Memorandum on implementation in Ukraine of an international Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) to increase transparency in the construction industry.

In Ukraine the project will be implemented by an independent advisory and monitoring group comprising representatives of the Government, the private sector and public organizations. They shall oversee the process of disclosing information in the framework of specific projects, ensure transparency and availability of the data on public infrastructure projects and enhance the opportunities for the public to influence control and audit processes.

First effects of work will be felt in February 2016. Whereas, the total value of contracts, participants and winners of tenders, the indicators of changes to the construction contracts, variations in costs of contracts and the reasons for these changes will be the subject to primary publishing. Thereafter, there will be available other information collected by Ukravtodor and Motor Road Services in the regions that fall into a public category, but haven’t been available to general public and market participants before.

"With Ukrainian citizens keeping a vigilant eye, the money collected from taxes for road repairs will no longer disappear and get to the pockets of officials and unscrupulous contractors. This is another important step we have made to ensure complete transparency and quality of public control over the expenditure of public funds", summed up Minister of Infrastructure Andrii Pyvovarsky.