President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a conference call on urgent measures aimed at combating violations of weight-size restrictions on Ukrainian roads by trucks.
The conference call also involved Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov and Head of Ukravtodor Oleksandr Kubrakov.
According to the Head of State, statistics show that over the last few years, almost every second truck on Ukrainian highways has been overloaded.
"I did not think that in addition to the program called "Great Construction" in our country, which was very difficult to get back on its feet, there will be a separate big problem - how to protect part of this program, namely roads in the country," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the beginning of the meeting.
The President noted that the problem with overloaded trucks has already been detected even on new roads, which are now being built in the framework of the "Great Construction" program.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal noted that this year inspectors of the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety (Ukrtransbezpeka) work around the clock. Since May 12, they have drawn up almost 900 acts on exceeding the weight-size parameters, and the amount of fines for this period is more than 190 thousand euros.
The Prime Minister announced plans to increase the number of road inspectors by 200 from October 1. There are currently 141 of them across the country. In addition, there are nine weight control systems on the roads. There will be 19 of them by June 25, and 78 by October 1.
The Prime Minister noted that the Cabinet of Ministers has submitted to the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada a bill on amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine on the implementation of weight-size control by the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety. It stipulates the possibility for local authorities to install automatic dimensional control systems. Part of the fines is proposed to be allocated to local budgets for road reconstruction.
At the same time, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov noted that due to legal restrictions, Ukrtransbezpeka employees cannot independently control the observance of weight-size restrictions and act effectively only in cooperation with the police. In addition, due to the low salaries of Ukrtransbezpeka inspectors, there are high corruption risks.
The Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs proposed to transfer the function of control over observance of safety on the roads, including weight-size control, to the patrol police.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commissioned the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ensure that the National Police can perform the function of Ukrtransbezpeka regarding control of weight-size restrictions. The Head of State also suggested that the Security Service of Ukraine join this struggle.
"I would like you to organize joint work with the Security Service of Ukraine: to take all measures to prevent violations of weight-size norms, especially on public roads," Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Minister of Internal Affairs.
For his part, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov supported the initiative of the President of Ukraine and expressed willingness to join such work.
"Joint work through the example of gambling, illegal petrol stations is a kind of advocacy in the eyes of society that this is not a "rigged game", but a joint coordinated work. Secondly, it is more effective. Because the authorities can communicate with each other, exchange information and stop destructive competition in working with each other," he said.
In addition, the Head of State emphasized the need to develop a program to reform Ukrtransbezpeka.
"As of tomorrow, we need to work together to save our roads. It makes no sense to build roads that are immediately destroyed. We need to keep what we have and multiply it with a new qualitative infrastructure. Then the Great Construction will help every Ukrainian," Volodymyr Zelenskyy summed up.