Adoption of Law “On Inland Water Transport” is an important milestone in the implementation of the transport chapter of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine.
The law defines the legal, economic and organizational principles of inland water transport.
The law regulates issues of state regulation in the field of inland water transport, operation and development of inland water transport, its infrastructure, transportation of cargoes and passengers, navigation on inland waterways and its safety, property sunk on inland waterways, liability of shipowners for violations of legislation on inland water transport, etc.
Adoption of the law increases the cargo flow up to 35 mln t per year, preserves the roadway and saves UAH 1 bln for the road repair in the coming four years. The document will provide permanent financing of safe river infrastructure, will stimulate shipbuilding and restoration of Ukrainian enterprises and jobs, as well as will open access of foreign-flagged ships to inland waterways of Ukraine, which will facilitate the development of international trade.
Also, worth noting that the potential for inland water transport in Ukraine, and notably the Dnipro River and the Black sea, is significant, and its development would contribute to greening transport and reduce the modal share of road transport, while removing bottlenecks on the rail network during the harvest season.