Kiev calculates losses caused by Crimean Bridge; says Kuban is Ukrainian

Ukraine will lose dozens of millions of hryvnias because of the Crimean Bridge which is under construction now, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan is quoted as saying by UNN.

According to the minister, the calculations are now of preliminary nature. “There are losses. These are dozens of millions of hryvnias,” he announced stressing that Moscow had not coordinated the questions of construction with Kiev.

He also called Kuban a “Ukrainian” territory. “From the political point of view, I see that the bridge will connect the Ukrainian Crimea and Ukrainian Kuban,” Omelyan added.

A year ago, the minister announced that air traffic between Ukraine and Russia that was cut down in the fall of 2015, can be restored only in case Moscow returns to Ukraine Crimea, eastern Ukraine, and Kuban and other “Ukrainian” territories once “occupied” by Russia.

As the Russian Transport Ministry informed earlier, due to the fact that the construction of the Crimean Bridge is moving ahead of schedule, the traffic will be started through it by stages. In May 2018, it will be opened for cars and buses, by the end of the year, trucks will be allowed to cross the Kerch Straits through the bridge.