Work will restart to complete Dnipro, Ukraine's subway project two years after a 2.5-mile extension was abandoned by its original contractor following Russia’s invasion in 2022. The original contract, valued at about $248 million, was signed in 2016.
The London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development recently issued an invitation for expressions of interest, similar to a request for qualifications in the U.S., for contractors interested in the design-build work. Responses are due by June 21.
The bank, which originally helped finance the project, said in the notice that it is considering extending financing to complete the line—adding that it wants to “test the risk appetite of the market in the context of the current situation in Ukraine” and give potential contractors the opportunity to provide feedback and share concerns.
The Dnipro Metro originally opened in 1995 with six stations along 4.8 miles. Nine stations had been planned in the 1980s, but the project languished amid the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The planned extension into the city center is set to have three stations designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.
Dnipro, which is Ukraine's fourth largest city with about 1 million residents, is in eastern Ukraine about 391 miles south of the capital city of Kyiv.
Turkish contractor Limak Construction, which originally won the contract, had expected to complete the line in 2021. However, the project faced delays even before the war. Dnipro city officials blamed regional government leaders, who they said added paperwork obstacles and withheld approvals.
In April 2021, when work was about 30% complete, the Ukraine Ministry of Finance reached agreements with project financial backers to extend the work until this year. Limak then abandoned the job and fled the Ukraine after Russia began its invasion in February 2022, according to Borys Filatov, the mayor of Dnipro. A Limak spokesperson did not immediately respond to inquiries.
ILF Consulting Engineers Polska Sp. z o.o., a Polish subsidiary of the international engineering firm ILF Group, recorded the progress that had been done and estimated the cost for the remaining work, Filatov wrote in a social media post. The firm also is working on the project going forward, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
An ILF Group spokesperson said he could not share the status of the work, and city officials did not immediately respond to inquiries about the remaining construction.
Russian attacks have hit Dnipro repeatedly since the start of the war. The most recent, a June 4 missile attack, injured at least eight people and damaged dozens of buildings, including homes, a hospital and a school, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Filatov.
Since March, Ukraine officials say Russia has stepped up drone and missile attacks against civilian infrastructure across the nation, including power plants. Ukrainian energy company DTEK reported two of its thermal power plants were seriously damaged in a missile attack June 1. The company said plants have been fired upon more than 180 times since the start of Russia’s invasion.
Earlier this year, a joint report from the United Nations, European Commission, World Bank Group and Ukraine government estimated the cost of the country’s reconstruction and recovery at $486 billion, over the next decade. That estimate was $75 billion more than a year earlier.
