The Spanish Transport and Sustainable Mobility Minister Óscar Puente attended the ministerial summit of the International Transport Forum (ITF) in Leipzig on Thursday, where OECD member states debated the resilience of transport infrastructure to climate change.
On the second day of the biennial gathering, Puente called for a shift away from reactive infrastructure management towards a prevention-led, planning-based model. The minister stressed that upfront investment in preventive measures yields long-term savings by freeing up resources that would otherwise be channelled into reconstruction works.
On the sidelines of the plenary sessions, Puente held bilateral meetings with representatives from Ukraine and the Czech Republic. In his talks with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba, he conveyed Spain’s support in the face of Russian aggression and offered co-operation on infrastructure repair and development, in line with agreements between Prime Ministers Sánchez and Zelensky on collaboration between Renfe and Ukraine’s railway network.
In his meeting with Czech Minister Ivan Bednárik, Puente put forward the expertise of Spanish operators and engineering firms — including Renfe, Talgo and Ineco — as a basis for advancing railway modernisation, interoperability and intermodality across the Czech Republic.