the future bridge of Kerch

While the self-imposed Kiev government is begging for Western aid to prop up the crumbling Ukrainian economy, Russia is beginning to invest in Crimea. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has issued an order to create a joint-stock company (JSC) for the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait.

Economists agree that the Kerch Bridge is a quick-yielding and highly remunerative project, to say nothing of geopolitical dividends. The future the joint-stock company will be set up within the framework of the Avtodor state-owned company.

Reliable and cheap transportation between the Taman Peninsula and Crimea meets the interests of both Russia and Ukraine as it opens up new trade and investment opportunities, Medvedev said. Now that the decree was signed, what has hitherto been a theoretical project is moving into a practical planning stage. “Ukraine has been and will remain our very important trade and economic partner. The government is looking into all those issues. We are closely watching the situation. But we also have commitments that are compulsory for us, for example, the agreements signed last December. No one has cancelled them. These include the construction of a transport artery across the Kerch Strait,” Medvedev said at a government meeting on Monday.

Once the feasibility study for the trans-Kerch Strait corridor is completed, a decision will be made on whether it should be a bridge or an undersea tunnel.

“It’s a very profitable project in terms of transport communication between Taman and Crimea. It will boost economic ties and regional trade between Crimea and southern Russia. And it may also become an additional transportation corridor from Southeast Asia to Europe. It will be a great help for the economy and for cementing friendship and cooperation between Russians and Crimeans,” said Alexander Mikhailenko, a professor at the Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the Russian President.

The Kerch project is part of a broader cooperation agenda with Russia planning to invest $5 billion in various projects in Crimea. The list of investment sites recommended by the Economic Development Ministry includes ports, roads, hotels, the food-processing branch and coastal infrastructure.

The self-proclaimed Kiev administration claims that it urgently needs $30 billion to avoid default. It is going out of its way to convince the IMF and individual states of its credibility. In the meantime, China is demanding $3 billion in compensation for disrupted grain supplies. So far, it’s unclear where the money will come from, maybe from Ukrainian oligarchs?