Eight years after a decision on the development of a new border crossing with Poland, the Ukrainian government has scrapped a contract with a Polish company for its construction.
From July 2, Ukraine will begin tendering again for the construction of an enlarged crossing in Medyka-Szeginie after breaking off its contract with Poland’s Unibep.
This comes eight years after a decision was taken to build the crossing, and five years after the Polish company was awarded the initial tender.
The border crossing has for several years been the busiest land border crossing with Poland. Last year, 4.2 million crossings were recorded, up from the previous year’s figure of 2.4 million.
The idea of a joint crossing was first discussed in 2015. The Polish government then decided to help Ukraine with credit to complete the work. Unibep won the tender worth €15.6 million, and the contract was confirmed by both relevant ministries in 2019. It had been hoped the project would be completed by 2020, but the construction was delayed.
In March this year, Unibep was informed by the State Customs Service of Ukraine that it was pulling out of the agreement, and in May, it was announced that there would be a new tender.
The Polish company is alleged to have failed to provide adequate accounts and other documentation. There was also a dispute about prices that has been ongoing since December. The Ukrainian government concluded in its notice to Ubep that the company had no chance of completing the work on time and that Ukraine could no longer pay it using the credit granted by the Polish government.
Polish officials and Unibep are contesting the Ukrainian decision. They say the pandemic and the war affected the timetable, as both had a huge impact on the area in which construction was taking place.
