Kerch bridge to the Crimea: state and progress of construction. Crimean bridge: history, criticism and dangers of the Russian adventure Where does the Kerch bridge lead
Vladimir Putin took part in the opening of the Crimean Bridge. The President was the first to cross the bridge; car traffic on it will open the next day. Participated in the opening ceremony and billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, who took part in monitoring the progress of construction.
The rupture of Ukrainian-Russian relations and the annexation of Crimea to Russia, which exacerbated the economic crisis, paradoxically brought to life the largest infrastructure projects. First of all, we are talking about building an energy bridge between Russia and Crimea, a railway bypassing Ukraine, and now a transport bridge across the Kerch Strait.
All three projects required huge injections from the budget. Economic expediency was not discussed: political motives came to the fore.
Energy bridge and railway
The first energy bridge was completed - in May 2016. The urgent need for it arose after the energy blockade of the peninsula by Ukraine. In 2014-2016, electricity was regularly cut off in Crimea.
The total cost of the energy bridge was, according to official estimates, 47 billion rubles: most of the funds went to the construction of power lines (TL) from the Rostov nuclear power plant to the Taman Peninsula. In order to obtain a power source, the commissioning of power unit No. 3 at this nuclear power plant was accelerated. Cable-overhead lines were thrown across the Kerch Strait - by air on supports and along the seabed. In addition, a substation and the necessary infrastructure were built.
Since the Soviet era, part of the railway route to the south from Moscow passed through the border territory of Ukraine in the Luhansk region. After the events of 2014, this moment acquired strategic importance: the Russian authorities considered that Ukraine could block rail traffic along these lines. As a result, the second step was the laying of a new route through the Voronezh and Rostov regions, bypassing Ukraine, 137 km long. The laying was completed in August 2017 and cost about 55 billion rubles. The work was carried out by the railway troops.
Very long, very expensive
The price of the Crimean bridge surpassed all previous works and cost 228 billion rubles. The crossing turned out to be one of the most complex technical structures erected after the collapse of the USSR: the 18 km long road and rail bridge was built in rather difficult geological conditions and generated a lot of environmental and political risks.
The main domestic political choice was the choice of the main construction contractor, the Stroygazmontazh company, owned by Arkady Rotenberg, who is among Putin's longtime friends. This, of course, caused a surge of discontent and various suspicions about the corruption component, as well as the inefficiency of the project and the enrichment of the oligarch at the expense of the state budget.
However, the state had a different logic: it did not find other companies with the relevant experience, finances and technical capabilities for the construction of such an object. The unexpected annexation of Crimea and its expected blockade, which affected 2.3 million local residents, forced the Russian authorities to act quickly and unconventionally. If there was enough time for other megaprojects of the Putin era, such as the restoration of Grozny, the ESPO pipeline, the renovation of Vladivostok for the APEC summit with the construction of a bridge to Russky Island and the construction of facilities for the Sochi Olympics, then in this case the deadlines were running out.
After the peninsula was cut off from rail traffic, and the Ukrainian side introduced strict control over road traffic from the mainland, only the ferry and air means of supply and communication with Crimea remained. It was fundamentally important for the Kremlin to show and prove that it is capable of providing unhindered access to its new territory.
Why was there no competition?
Such infrastructure projects often become non-competitive, as the level of complexity and speed prompt action immediately. Thus, when the United States occupied Iraq, contracts for large-scale restoration work worth billions of dollars were awarded to Halliburton and the Bechtel Group, associated with the Republicans (Vice President Dick Cheney worked at the head of the first of them before his election), and sometimes without competition, which was explained force majeure.
But this always causes the temptation of illicit enrichment, since the funds are huge, and control over them is reduced. Here we can recall the largest Russian company Mostovik, which rose on such orders: among other things, it built a bridge to Russky Island. Immediately after the Sochi Olympics in 2014, the company declared itself bankrupt, and the management of Mostovik was arrested. So the suspicions of the public may not be groundless and need to be carefully checked and rechecked. Aleksey Kudrin, the Accounts Chamber, will certainly do this.
The railway load on the bridge has not been calculated - does Crimea need so many trains and will they pay off? The holiday season is one thing, but on the peninsula it lasts about four months. Long-haul trains are no longer used anywhere in the world as a means of delivering vacationers.
For example, the Channel Tunnel is economically justified because high-speed trains pass through it with a short travel time between London and Paris. But already Japan's Seikan Tunnel between Hokkaido and Honshu is showing a steady decline in passenger numbers as air travel is faster. At the same time, more than two times more people live in Hokkaido than in Crimea. Of the three bridges across the Bosphorus, only one was made road-rail.
The main lesson of the Crimean bridge is that if the state seriously wants to achieve something, then it will make every effort to achieve the goal. Road traffic opened six months ahead of schedule. However, after the holiday, a hangover often sets in, sometimes turning out to be quite bitter.
The construction of the Kerch Bridge is ahead of schedule. Starting in February last year, the workers immediately picked up a good pace. By the fall of 2017, the prospects for early completion of construction were not so illusory. Although the project participants themselves still do not answer a direct question whether it is possible to complete the construction of the century before December 2018. Kryminform compared forecasts with facts. And there was hope.
Indirect signs
The main work on the construction of the Kerch bridge began with the driving of piles for the foundation of the supports in early March 2016. The first support was ready in April. By the end of the year, the builders had already erected more than 200 supports, almost doubling the original annual plan. In the spring of 2017, Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov announced that the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait was ahead of schedule.
“Last year (2016) the project confidently passed the equator point, now construction is even going ahead of schedule. We confidently declare that next year the working traffic on the automobile part of the bridge will be opened,” Sokolov said.
At the same time, both the minister and the project participants do not specify whether traffic on the road part of the bridge will be launched earlier than planned in December 2018.
Indirectly, the fact that traffic on the bridge can be opened much earlier than the end of 2018 is evidenced by the order of the Government of the Russian Federation. The text of the document was published on October 6 and was in the public domain for several hours on the official Internet portal of legal information, after which it was deleted. However, its copy remained in the editorial office of Kryminform.
The order of the Government of the Russian Federation concerns the timing of the opening of the labor movement and the start of the temporary exploitation of the so-called. This new four-lane highway with a length of 8.6 km should connect the Crimean bridge and the Tavrida highway no later than May 30, 2018.
In the future, they plan to link the auto-approaches with the Kerch road network and the new railway station. However, this project is currently at the design stage. Traffic on the interchange is unlikely to be launched before 2019, when both the station itself and the railway approach to the Kerch bridge will be built.
Thus, by May 30, 2018, auto-approaches will remain isolated from the existing urban road network of Kerch. This means that the launch of through traffic on the road is possible only when traffic is opened on the bridge. The synchronism of work on the auto-approaches and the Kerch bridge itself was repeatedly announced by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.
Construction calendar
Statistics also testify to a significant advance in the construction plan. The calendar schedule for the production of work on the object "Construction of a transport passage through the Kerch Strait" is published on the public procurement website. According to the document, the construction of supports in a number of sections was planned to be fully completed only in September and even October of the next year, and the installation of spans at once in three sections out of seven - only by November 2018. Meanwhile, according to official information, by mid-October, only 13 pillars remained to be erected for the road part of the bridge: from the island of Tuzla and the Kerch coast to the fairway.
In other areas, this type of work is fully completed. The spans covered about 15.5 km of the road bridge out of 16.8 km provided for by the project. . Part of the bridge spans is yet to be concreted before asphalt is laid. These works have been completed by 80%: out of 66,000 cubic meters of concrete, the builders have only 13,000 cubic meters left to pour.
And the Kerch bridge on the fairway supports. This operation has become not only one of the largest, but also the most important for completing the work on time. The installation of arched spans was delayed due to unfavorable weather. But in the end, the builders managed to put them on the fairway supports before the protracted autumn-winter storms and thereby minimize the impact of weather on the pace of bridge construction. 
Builders do not experience problems with financing either. The Russian government has already allocated almost 167 billion rubles (about 75% of the contract amount) for the construction of the Crimean bridge. At the same time, the construction customer - PKU Uprdor Taman - accepted the work performed in the amount of more than 102 billion rubles, which is almost half of all funds provided for the project.
December 2018 continues to be the official opening date for motor traffic on the Crimean Bridge. However, over the two years of work, the builders have repeatedly surprised by the pace of the construction of the bridge. It is possible that next year will bring another surprise from them.
They will never be built, since this place is located at the junction of two tectonic plates, Roman Bessmertny, the representative of Ukraine in the tripartite contact group in Minsk, said on March 19 on the air of the Shuster LIVE program. The agency reported topnews.ru. Experts and journalists hold different points of view. /website/
“There will be no bridge there. Will not be! The Russians will drive these piles for more than a decade. Today, everyone knows that it is impossible to build a bridge at the junction of these two plates (tectonic - editor's note), because they are moving all the time. And we live this fairy tale. The answer is simple, it lies on the surface. Why wasn't the bridge built? Because it can't be built there!" - Ukrainian TV channel "112" quotes the words of Bessmertny.
According to the diplomat, only one person developed a plan with "real credible mechanisms for building a bridge there." He is the Minister of Construction of Nazi Germany Albert Speer. “If you want, take these documents from the archives,” he said.
The bridge will be completed in 2018
According to the plan, the construction of a bridge with a length of 19 kilometers across the Kerch Strait will be completed in 2018. The cost of the project is 228 billion rubles.
The bridge will connect the Crimean peninsula with the Russian mainland. It is assumed that the bridge will be crossed by railway and motor roads with a daily capacity of up to 47 pairs of trains and 40,000 cars. An arched span up to 227 meters long and 35 meters wide is planned for the passage of ships. The road should open on December 18, 2018, the railway - in 2019.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait a symbol of the unity of Russia and Crimea, as well as a "historic mission" that was sought but failed to be realized over the past century. “Our predecessors understood the significance of this bridge crossing between the Crimea and the Caucasus and have been striving for the implementation of this project for a long time,” he said. The culprits of the delay in the construction of the bridge, Putin threatened to "hang after summing up the results of the construction." The general contractor for the construction of the bridge is the Stroygazmontazh company of Arkady Rotenberg.
Livejournal journalist denied Bessmertny's opinion
Journalist Yurasumy publishing house Livejournal considers it possible to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait. He noted that in San Francisco, located a few dozen kilometers from the San Andreas fault in California, bridges are being built and solve problems for the region. For example, the Bay Bridge is 3,000 meters long and similar in purpose to the Kerch Bridge. New technologies are used in the construction of such bridges, the journalist noted.
At the same time, construction is not carried out on the San Andreas fault itself, since the speed of plate movement is up to 4 cm per year. Therefore, all routes passing through it are subject to constant repair.
The journalist published a tectonic map of the Crimea, compiled in 1985 by the Yuzhmorneftegeofizika trust. According to it, the docking of tectonic plates in the Crimea takes place far from the Kerch Strait at a distance of 200 kilometers, and the boundaries of the fault are several tens of kilometers from the strait.
According to the journalist, in tectonic terms, the bridge may be threatened by an earthquake similar to the Crimean one in 1927. On the southern coast of Crimea, its strength was 6 points. The earthquake in Kerch did not bring destruction or casualties. Nevertheless, it caused collapses in the vicinity of Sevastopol, in the houses of which cracks appeared.
Opinion of Ukrainian experts
Building a bridge across the Kerch Strait is a difficult task, according to specialists from the Ukrainian Institute of Electric Welding. Paton. According to them, the seabed of the strait is a chain of mud volcanoes covered with a layer of silt up to 50 meters thick. Under the influence of currents, silt washes islands or creates gullies, which is dangerous for the foundation of the bridge, experts say.
This is not the first attempt to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait
Nicholas II, Stalin, Hitler, Yanukovych tried to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait. The First World War prevented Nicholas II from realizing his plan. Stalin's attempts to build a bridge ended in failure due to the outbreak of World War II. Hitler planned to use the bridge to transport troops and equipment to India. Albert Speer developed a plan for its construction, and in 1943 its construction began.
However, in 1944, the Crimea was liberated from the Germans and, at the direction of Stalin, they continued the construction of the bridge, which was built in 6.5 months. At the same time, the bridge did not have ice cutters, and in February 1945, the ice driven into the strait destroyed all 42 supports. They did not restore the bridge, but instead built a ferry crossing.
Ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych advocated the construction of the bridge back in 2007, while he was prime minister. In the future, he planned to create a joint project with Russia for its construction. But for obvious reasons, the plan did not materialize.
In March 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin set the task for the Ministry of Transport to build the Kerch Bridge for road and rail traffic. According to the project, the crossing will consist of parallel road and rail sections.
Kerch bridge
The highway should have 4 lanes, the maximum speed on it will be 120 km/h. The throughput of the route is up to 40 thousand cars per day. In October 2015, traffic was opened across the Kerch Strait on a temporary working bridge. Petr Koval, engineer of communications, candidate of technical sciences, member of the Academy of Construction of Ukraine, answered questions about the prospect of building a bridge across the Kerch Strait.
- There was a message in the news that the construction of the first section of the auxiliary bridge in the Kerch Strait was completed, which connected the Krasnodar Territory and Tuzla Island. Pyotr Nikolaevich, what is a temporary bridge?
– A temporary bridge, this is a bridge in order to speed up the construction of the main bridge later. That is, materials, equipment will be supplied through it, work can be carried out from several points, which, of course, will speed up the pace of work.
- Do I understand correctly that this is such an infrastructure detail that is used not for buses with passengers, but for trucks that deliver cargo.
“This is a working bridge that will help build the main bridge. Why temporary? Because it is designed for a short time. If we talk about the main bridge, then it should stand for at least a hundred years. During this time, an earthquake can happen, for example, some other cataclysms, and he must endure all this. And a modern bridge, if something happens, can, of course, suffer, and the builders know this, and if force majeure happens, then there will be no such victims as on the main bridge, of course.
The concept of the construction of the Kerch bridge
Source: most.life
– When I read about the fate of the first 70-year-old bridge, I remember that the spring ice drift played a sad role in its fate. And then it was demolished, could not withstand the load. But now they are building a temporary bridge on the eve of winter, and by spring, as I understand it, the threat will not go anywhere.
- You see, there are not every year there are such ice drifts. And just that bridge was not lucky. This time it may not happen, but theoretically it can happen too.
- I repeat, we often hear politicians whether the Kerch bridge will be built or not. But from an engineering, from an expert point of view, is this project even possible?
– Technically possible, but will this bridge be reliable and with what degree of probability? path". That is, the principles of construction are violated. There are processes that guarantee the reliability of the bridge - research, development of options, passing a very detailed serious examination. And only after that construction begins. As far as I have been following the events, laws have been passed in Russia on purpose that violate the procedure. That is, it is allowed to start construction, and then legalize what will be built. At the moment there is no project, but the construction of the bridge, albeit an auxiliary one, is already underway. That is, the basic principle is violated.
- Do I understand correctly that the construction of the Kerch bridge is such a political project.
Yes, that's why they're in a hurry. If from the point of view of reliability, from the point of view of probability, that nothing would happen, then of course it would be impossible to build like that. But if we want a political resonance, if we want different political actions, then yes, this is what construction is going on for.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was presented with a project to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait as part of the Sochi-2015 International Investment Forum
Source: marv.livejournal.com
- But what a fundamental thing you say that the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait is possible. Because a lot of bravura statements were made that no, it is impossible to build it, that soft soils and so on. Here, please, give an expert assessment of how labor-intensive, achievable, and so on, in general, from the point of view of modern technologies, a transport crossing in the form of a bridge.
- Here is the main problem. This is seismic. On September 17, Interfax.ru published a statement by the Deputy Director of the Institute of Earth Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Evgeny Rogozhin, based on the research of the institute, said that a decision was made to lower the seismic from 9-10 points to 8.5.
- Is it in the Kerch Strait?
- Yes Yes. And this, as he said, increases the reliability of this solution. This is absurd, why? It seems to be based on studies, and they certainly were, these studies, but the possibility of force majeure still exists. And so, a strong-willed decision was made to lower the requirements for the bridge. Because at 10 points, these are fantastically unique designs, incredibly expensive. But we lowered the requirements to 8.5. Yes, we have reduced costs, simplified the task for designers and builders, but the likelihood of an accident is increasing.
Of course, what is the probability? If there is a strong earthquake. And our forecasting, again, is not at a very high level. That's when it was in Yalta in 1927 - no one expected. And even now, after 100 years, no one has learned to predict an earthquake in a few years.
Source: most.life
- That is, a situation occurs when the requirements for engineering structures are adjusted to the budget and political expediency. By the way, about the budget. In February, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak announced the cost of the bridge - 228 billion rubles. And another question, in addition to seismic activity, the combination “soft soils” is very often heard. What is it and is it really a serious problem?
- The situation is such that there is 60 meters of silt. The diameter of the piles is expected to be 1.4 meters. And silt, in fact, does not hold piles. And piles with such a length and diameter are very thin supports, and they will turn out to be very flexible.
– Pyotr Nikolaevich, from all that has been said, I understand that the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait from the point of view of modern technologies is quite realistic. It's just a story about such a first victory - it requires bold engineering solutions and a willingness to pay quite a lot of budget money, do I understand correctly?
- I guess, yes. And it is also about making reliable decisions, since the construction of a bridge requires a significant investment.
– You touched upon the possibility of a tunnel under the Kerch Strait, and you said that there are two different technologies for creating a tunnel under the Kerch bridge. We will call your colleague, Nikolai Glukhov, who believes that the crossing of the Kerch Strait should not be in the form of a bridge, but in the form of a tunnel. In his opinion, the bridge will cost much more than the tunnel. Nikolai Ivanovich, we know you as one of the lobbyists for the underground crossing of the Kerch Strait, tell me, what are the advantages of the tunnel over the bridge in this case?
“I am not a lobbyist. In this case, I am an expert on this crossing, I want to tell you, first of all, how wrong the task of building the crossing was set. Crimea lies on the shortest crossing between Europe and Asia and the bridge is a matter of connecting Crimea and mainland Russia. The numbers and indicators of the bridge have already been made public. This is 10 million passengers and 14 million tons of cargo per year, and these are such meager figures for 228 billion rubles. We indicated that 10 and 14 are promising indicators for Crimea. And if we can solve the problem today for 10 million euros without building any bridges and tunnels, we will add two berths on both sides and increase the capacity of the ferry crossing. And we close this question.
No, we aim to build a bridge. Then let's say that the regional problem is solved for 100 million. Then tell me what a state task could be, because not only the annexation of Crimea, but also the creation of a transport and logistics complex Crimea, which will allow us to move and create completely different cargo and passenger flows, for this we must build something else! We have presented these projects at all levels, because in truth - we still have to build a deep-water export port, 250 million passengers a year and more than 50 million cargo - this is the southern port for the Russian Federation in the Black Sea, and the only place where you can build such a port is the Feodosia Bay, all this is presented in our projects.
In Crimea, the "construction of the century" continues - the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait. How realistic is it to build it without risk for its subsequent operation? Is it possible to carry out all the work without embezzling the allocated funds, and is the Crimean infrastructure ready to accept the flow of cars and trains that will go along the bridge that is still under construction? We are talking about this with Petro Koval, an engineer of communications, a member of the Academy of Construction of Ukraine, Volodymyr Harnachuk, head of the Clean Coast.Crimea public organization, and Oleksandr Kava, ex-Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
More than 2,000 people from all regions of Russia are working on the "construction of the century" - the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait. Temporary infrastructure is being created for non-stop work, the foreman says Alexander Revinsky. There are working bridges designed for the transport of people and the delivery of materials, the operation of heavy cranes. Prayers are praying for the construction, TV spots are filmed about the progress of the work. Despite all efforts, the Russian government postpones the start of the temporary operation of the railway part of the bridge for a year, and the costs increase by almost 6 times. The preliminary estimate of the cost of the bridge was 40-45 billion rubles, now the cost has increased to 245-250 billion, and, apparently, this figure is not final. However, the Kerch Bridge is primarily a political and image project, and, most likely, the facility will be built. This is not the first attempt to build a bridge across the Kerch ferry. In 1944, the erected temporary bridge destroyed the ice after 3 months. The threat to builders lies both in the muddy seabed and on land, Yevgeny Rogozhin, deputy director of the Institute of Physics of the Earth, believes: the slopes on the shore of the strait are inactive. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the need to build a bridge immediately after the annexation of Crimea. In 2014, the Ukrainian side withdrew from the construction agreement with Russia. The construction contract was concluded in 2015 - in the amount of 223.1 billion rubles. The construction of the navigable part of the bridge has now begun. The height of the fairway part will be 80 meters. At the same time, priests are actively involved in the work - they pray for “strengthening the spirit of the builders so that there are fewer temptations, and the process is completed on time and with proper quality,” Mikhail Viktorov, rector of the St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Sevastopol, said.
Recently, the Russian Forbes published a letter from the general contractor to the general customer with requests to allocate money for construction. Judging by what is stated on the public procurement website, 57 billion rubles were paid out of the order of 223 billion. This year, out of 57 billion, builders received less than 10.
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Pop out player– Candidate of Technical Sciences, member of the Academy of Civil Engineering of Ukraine Petr Koval is in touch with us. Peter, what could delay the financing of the construction of the Kerch bridge?
Koval: For each project, a construction organization project is developed, where everything is clearly described in terms of technology requirements. For example, concrete must take 28 days to gain full strength. There is no funding - the chain is interrupted, the technology is broken, the quality of work suffers. Given the complex logistics of the work, this is very influential. Of course, in Russia there is experience when a lot of money is rushed to the end of construction by an emergency method, and the work is completed on time. But this greatly degrades the quality, and even here there are doubts about the reliability of the structure. It is technically possible to build a bridge. They were also building in 1944. The question is how long this building will last. Such structures must stand for at least 100 years. But with this quality of work - this is a question. Of course, prayers are needed here, it will suddenly help.
- What can damage the bridge structures, which are now in the Kerch Strait?
Koval: The requirements for seismic stability of the structure were artificially reduced. And we know what earthquakes were in the Crimea. In addition, there is a conflicting bottom, thick layers of silt, it is difficult to rely on reliable soils. There are tectonic gaps between the plates. In winter - strong winds, icing. Basically, serious accidents happen due to the coincidence of negative factors. And there are more than enough of them. And the reliability of the structure should be ensured more seriously than it is done.
- In addition to natural conditions, the quality of work is strongly influenced by the corruption component. Some workers from the Kerch side have not been paid salaries for almost 2 months. According to one of the workers, the company is called LLC "Business Resource", the contract specifies one amount, in fact another is paid, but there are problems with its payment. The salary should be paid every 2 months, however, the days of payment are not specified in the contract.
We are in touch with the head of the public organization "Clean Coast. Crimea" Vladimir Garnachuk. Vladimir, can workers' complaints indicate a strong corruption component of the work? And will the bridge be completed and with what quality?
There is no doubt that the bridge will be completed, because it is a landmark building for Russia and Crimea, which will connect the mainland and the peninsula
Vladimir Garnachuk
Garnachuk: This is a typical story for the construction of grandiose objects. Let me remind you that the Stroygazmontazh company, owned by a very close friend of Putin, is engaged in construction. Arkady Rotenberg. The price has already increased several times. But there is no doubt that it will be completed, because it is a landmark building for Russia and Crimea, which will connect the mainland and the peninsula. Here the principle “we will not stand behind the price” is being implemented. There are many problems, including engineering ones. But, again, the bridge will be put into operation - possibly with a delay of up to a year, that is, in 2020.
- Some Crimeans hope that the Kerch bridge will solve many problems of the peninsula. Will it happen?
Garnachuk: It won't solve all problems. Because the problems of Crimea lie in the inefficiency of governance and corruption, which increase the cost of goods.
- The question is not only the bridge, but also whether the Crimean roads will withstand the increase in load - by the way, Vladimir Putin also spoke about this, demanding to find those responsible for the construction of the highway from Kerch to the peninsula.
Former Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kava is in touch with us. Alexander, are the Crimean roads ready to receive traffic that can go through the Kerch bridge? What needs to be done to make the Crimean infrastructure cope with it?
The Ukrainian side was not ready to finance such a project, we already have enough problems, and the construction of the Kerch bridge was not a priority
Alexander Kava
Kava: First of all, build the Tavrida highway, which has been repeatedly announced. This axial road should connect the Kerch bridge with Simferopol and Sevastopol, and the already existing network will play an auxiliary role and provide access for Crimean residents to the highway.
- Crimea is an unrecognized republic. If the bridge is completed, will the Ukrainian Crimea need it?
Kava: Ukrainian - not so much. Therefore, the decision to build it until 2014 was not made. The Ukrainian side was not ready to finance such a project, we already have enough problems, and the construction of the Kerch bridge was not a priority.