What started with a panel discussion arranged by the Norwegian-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (NUCC) in May, has resulted in the deliveries of several bridges from Norway to Ukraine. The bridges, ten in total, are essential both for evacuating civilians, rapid movement of military personnel and for exporting food.
Read press release on regjeringen.no here.
Read Itera’s post on LinkedIn here.
A need for bridges
Jon Erik Høgberg was part of the mentioned panel discussion, where the topic was how to do business with a country at war. Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Mustafa-Masi Nayyem participated digitally. Jon Erik asked what the most important thing they needed was, and the minister answered “bridges”.
Russia’s warfare in Ukraine had by then wreaked enormous havoc on infrastructure, including 129 bridge crossings. Jon Erik couldn’t let go of the idea that we could really make a difference in Ukraine, and took this further.
Help from The Norwegian Public Roads Administration
In mid-June, a meeting was arranged between the Norwegian-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and the Norwegian Embassy in Kyiv, where needs and opportunities began to become concrete. Høgberg contacted Janson Bridging in London, which is a European market leader in modular steel bridges and pontoons, where Norway serves as a worldwide distribution network.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens Vegvesen) gave an immediate positive response when they were included in the project. Necessary clarifications with the Ministry of Transport and Communications regarding funding were made, and Janson Bridging and Statens vegvesen were capable of delivering temporary bridges at short notice.
The Ukrainian authorities came up with a list at a detailed level of their needs for different bridges, based on NATO and EU standards. By mid-July, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also been connected, and the cooperation was formalised and ratified by the EU.
In December, the first trailers with bridges were on the road from Norway to Ukraine.
A special acknowledgement
We are immensely proud of Jon Erik, and hope everyone sees how this is a fantastic example of what is possible to achieve when the will is big enough. The initiative to deliver temporary bridges is about asking, listening, and contributing to practical, high-value deliveries for Ukrainian society.
It is also important to mention that other key roles in making this happen are NUCC, the Norwegian Government, Statens Vegvesen, Janson Bridges, and the Ukrainian government.
Ukraine defends not only its own territory. They are defending Europe.
