On September 10, USAID Economic Resilience Activity (USAID ERA) representatives and the Service for Restoration and Infrastructure Development in Odesa Oblast met to discuss collaborative initiatives to enhance the border crossing infrastructure. Cameron Berkuti, USAID ERA Border Crossing Point Director, and Andrii Donchenko, Head of the Service for Restoration in Odesa Oblast, attended the meeting.
Discussions centered on the BCPs’ improvements in the Odesa Oblast and looking into a request from the Odesa Service for Restoration to fund a mobile laboratory to improve quality assurance of work undertaken by the Service for Restoration in Odesa Oblast at the 9 BCPs along the Moldovan border.
USAID ERA has already supported modernization efforts at 27 BCPs across Ukraine’s western borders, with 10 road and rail BCPs in the Odesa Oblast. The improvements include basic improvements such as installing 68 new LED lighting systems at six BCPs, 50 traffic barricades at 3 BCPs, and 14 waste sorting bins for 8 road BCPs in the Odesa region. USAID ERA is also progressing with providing 48 modular facilities (or prefabricated buildings) for 8 BCPs. Further, ERA continues to work on design project documentation for modernizing Tabaky and Starokozache BCPs in the Odesa region.
Between 2023 and 2026, USAID, through ERA, is dedicating $115 million to support the Government of Ukraine. This support includes the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine (Ministry for Restoration), the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine (Agency for Restoration), the State Customs Service, and Ukrainian Railways (UZ) to upgrade 42 of Ukraine’s border crossing points (BCPs).