KYIV, Sept 14 - Ukraine’s state-owned railroad company Ukrzaliznytsia is losing UAH 10 billion to UAH 15 billion annually to corruption, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said Thursday.

"This is enough to finance political parties, to line personal pockets, and to pay for smear campaigns against those trying to fight the corruption. [UAH] 15 billion in 2014 would have paid for a hi-speed railway from Kyiv to Odesa. [UAH] 2.5 hours and you're on the beach. [UAH] 15 billion in 2015 would have paid for a Kyiv-Lviv-Warsaw rail line. [UAH] 15 billion in 2016 - Kyiv-Kharkiv. [UAH] 15 billion in 2017 - 25 hi-speed Tarpan passenger trains with speeds of 220 km/h. Again, this money doesn't come from taxes - it comes from corrupt officials. This is an untapped resource!" he wrote on his Facebook page.