On January 20, 2020, in the presence of the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladyslav Kryklii, a Memorandum of understanding and cooperation was signed between JSC Ukrainian Railway (Ukrzaliznytsia) and the China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC). The Memorandum was inked by the Chairman of the Board of JSC Ukrainian Railway Yevhen Kravtsov, Board Member Remigiusz Paszkiewicz and CRCC Deputy CEO Wang Hongwei. The event was also attended by First Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Dmytro Abramovych, Director for Strategic Development of JSC Ukrainian Railways Anton Sabolevsky, Advisor to the Secretary of the National Investment Council under the President of Ukraine Andrii Kakusha.

Vladyslav Kryklii stressed that the signing of the Memorandum is an important stage of cooperation for the development of railway communication in the direction of Ukraine - PRC, involvement of Chinese partners for modernization of Ukrainian railways and realization of the transit potential of the Ukrainian state in the EU - PRC communication: "We are pleased to welcome the major railway companies of Ukraine and China. The fact that the Chinese corporation has decided to open an office in Ukraine and sign a memorandum of strategic cooperation indicates that the economic situation in Ukraine is changing, the investment climate is improving and the largest foreign technological and manufacturing giants are interested in operations in the Ukrainian market. We expect to restart and intensify Ukraine's participation in the One Belt - One Road project, thereby having an opportunity to fully realize the transit potential of Ukraine in continental freight turnover. We want to find such a format and formula for Ukraine's participation in this multilateral project so that the win-win model, that is, when all the parties have mutual benefits, is realized to the full".

The Minister of Infrastructure emphasized that in order to ensure the implementation of the tasks set by the Decree of the President of Ukraine of November 8, 2019 “On urgent measures for reforming and strengthening of the state”, the Ministry of Infrastructure takes all necessary measures to create conditions for the functioning of competitive railway market in Ukraine, improving quality and accessibility of transportation services by rail. “We expect that the cooperation between Ukrzaliznytsia and CRCC will allow to significantly improve the state of transport infrastructure. We are striving to leverage direct structural investment in the development of a high-speed rail network not only between Ukrainian cities with a mullion-plus population, but also within the framework of European integration and the implementation of the Association Agreement to literally bring Ukraine to Europe when it will take not longer than 3 hours to get by rail to Warsaw, Budapest and Bucharest, while it will take only one and a half hours instead of the current 7-8 hours to get from Kyiv to Odesa by train”, said Vladyslav Kryklii.