Tunneling shield for Kyiv subway to be delivered in March: this will speed up construction

Avtostrada Group, the company building the Kyiv metro, expects to receive a tunnel boring machine (TBM) in March 2026, the firm’s owner Maksym Shkil told LIGA.net.

"In March 2026, a TBM from the German company Herrenknecht will arrive in Ukraine. Negotiations over its purchase and equipment took seven months. Once delivered, tunneling work should accelerate," Shkil said.

Construction is currently underway on open sections.

"We have built a two-level tunnel — the first of its kind in Ukraine. The concrete base slab has already been poured, and overall, the project is moving according to plan," he noted.

According to Shkil, Ukraine’s metro construction industry has largely collapsed, forcing the company to manufacture its own equipment: diaphragm wall machinery, jet grouting rigs, drilling machines, and a TBM. Avtostrada has also launched its own production of reinforced concrete components.

"We see this as a strategic investment that will also benefit future metro projects in Kyiv and other cities," Shkil explained.

The main challenge, he added, is insufficient funding.

"In 2025, only UAH 1.5 billion is planned for this project, while in reality we could carry out works worth UAH 3.5 billion. In 2026, we plan to complete construction worth UAH 10 billion," Shkil said.

• Work on the new Mostytska and Prospekt Pravdy (now Varshavska) stations began in 2019 and was originally scheduled for completion in December 2021. Progress lagged, and in December 2023 Kyiv Metro terminated its contract with Kyivmetrobud in court. By then, the company had completed a 1,250-meter right turnaround tunnel from Syrets station to Mostytska, and partially built two-level tunnels toward the next station.
• In November 2024, construction resumed with a new contractor — Avtostrada Group. The contract with Kyiv Metro stipulates a 30-month construction period (completion expected in early 2027) with a total budget of UAH 13.785 billion.