In today’s increasingly connected world, global logistics play a crucial role in enabling entry into new markets, reducing costs, and improving people’s access to goods. Projected to exceed $8 trillion by 2030, the global logistics market ensures that goods flow across borders and supply chains. It is also vital to food security, as it provides for the efficient transportation of agricultural products and supplies across continents. With nearly 80 percent of global trade relying on maritime logistics, disruptions to supply chains can lead to delays, increased costs, and shortages of essential food items.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and especially the blockade of Black Sea maritime transportation corridors, caused major disruptions to Ukraine’s agricultural exports and, hence, to global food security. These disruptions precipitated record-high commodity prices that threaten millions of people who rely on the Grain from Ukraine Initiative prompting the United Nations to spearhead the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Developed countries are not immune from this disruption, as demonstrated by record-high prices of wheat in the United States.
Ukraine’s government and international partners have recognized that effective and flexible logistics systems can mitigate this crisis by refocusing on western-facing road and rail routes and implementing rapid upgrades to quickly boost capacity.
“After the Black Sea ports were blocked due to the full-scale invasion, western border crossings became crucial for ensuring the flow of export goods,” said Myroslav Biletskyi, Governor of Ukraine’s westernmost Zakarpattia Oblast, which borders Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
“However, their capacity proved insufficient. The export volumes of grain crops increased significantly. Before 2022, about 79,000 tons of grain were transported through Zakarpattia, but by 2023, this figure had risen to approximately 2 million tons. There were periods when the waiting time to cross the border [was up to] 15 days. Thus, modernizing border crossing infrastructure and improving technical and customs procedures can enhance Ukraine’s export potential and accelerate its integration into the European Union (EU).”
Understanding the importance of providing increased capacity for western-facing road and rail border crossings, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) tasked the Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) with launching a border crossing point modernization initiative. Between 2023 and 2026, DAI-led ERA is dedicating $115 million to support the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Ukrainian Railways, and the State Customs Services to upgrade Ukraine’s border crossing points and thereby improve grain and export volumes while enhancing the border staff and passenger experience.
The project team identified road and rail crossing points on Ukraine’s borders with Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania as priorities. Priority Group 1 includes 11 road border crossing points (2 with Poland, 1 with Slovakia, 3 with Romania, 2 with Hungary, and 3 with Moldova), Group 2 includes 12 road and rail border crossing points, and Group 3 includes 21 road border crossing points.
To date, ERA has delivered $7.5 million in rapid upgrades and equipment at 29 border crossing points, with an additional $28 million in the pipeline. The upgrades include installations of prefabricated modular structures, traffic tools, signs, and commodity scales; site improvement work, including pavement repair, road marking, painting, and curb repair; and equipment such as handheld backscatters, vehicle dynamic scales, and mobile scanners.
The impact of these modernization efforts is multifaceted. Construction improvements in the Group 1 road border crossing points alone should increase truck throughput capacity by a minimum of 1,500 trucks per day by 2026, even as more upgrades and renovations are implemented across other groups. The upgrades, which align with EU standards, also contribute to sustainability efforts. For example, ERA has installed 1,885 LED lamps and related equipment at 25 border crossing points. These LED lamps use 80 percent less power than the incandescent lamps they replaced and save up to 300,000 kilowatts per hour per month—a vital solution for a country whose energy infrastructure is constantly attacked by missiles and cyber threats.
Another innovative practice utilized by one of ERA’s subcontractors in these upgrades is cold-in-place recycling (CIP), a method of removing and reusing existing asphalt surfacing. CIP allows ERA to reduce the amount of outside material that has to be brought to the site and requires minimal additional heat, thus efficiently improving the road surface while minimizing expenses.
In addition to increasing throughput capacity and enhancing sustainability, the upgrades have a tangible impact on border crossing point staff and the people crossing Ukraine’s borders. In the second quarter of 2024, ERA surveyed 14,200 travelers in passenger and freight vehicles, as well as bus passengers at 10 border crossings to assess their satisfaction with infrastructure improvements and wait times. Almost all users noted the improved road surfaces, lighting, sanitary facilities, traffic organization, and customs procedures, with 86 percent of respondents considering their border crossing point convenient. Andriy, one of the customs workers at the Uzhhorod-Vyšné Nemecké border crossing point, described the improved working conditions as “like night and day. Even the interactions with passengers are better. They arrive here, and everything is orderly, and they have a good experience.”
Both for Ukraine and for the global economy, the importance of Ukraine’s border crossing points will only grow. In November 2024, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine presented Ukraine’s Strategy for the Development of Border Infrastructure with the EU and Moldova, a document that outlines key actions through 2030. A key priority of the Strategy is increasing the capacity of border infrastructure.
