The Ukrainian parliament has adopted the second reading of a draft law on inland water transport.
This was announced by Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Kryklyi, the CFTS portal reports.
"We will now be able to revive river transport, the cheapest and most environmentally friendly means of delivering goods, and create efficient river logistics," the minister said.
According to Kryklyi, proposals from businesses were taken into account during the preparation of the draft law for its second reading.
According to him, the new draft law will increase the volume of cargo transportation to 30 million tons per year, which will generate UAH 13-16 billion for the country annually. Competition on the market will also improve and investment will increase thanks to a level playing field and transparent rules and new jobs will be created, he said.
"The transfer of some cargoes from automobile roads to rivers will help to significantly relieve the burden on roads and reduce the cost of repairing roads," the minister added.
In addition, according to him, the new law will create a State Inland Waterways Development Fund for maintaining the shipping locks on River Dnipro, more than 75% of which are now depreciated, in proper technical condition and ensure development of passenger transportation by river, including international passenger transportation.
It will also stimulate shipbuilding and recovery of Ukrainian enterprises, liberalize the market by allowing foreign-flagged vessels to enter the market, stimulate international trade, and deregulate the industry by introducing free passage through locks and partial exemption of inland navigation vessels from taxes in seaports.
According to the minister of infrastructure, the law will also simplify the administrative procedures for registering ships and issuing qualification documents. In addition, it will facilitate implementation of European norms and bring Ukrainian legislation in line with European legislation.
As the CFTS portal reported earlier, the Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Infrastructure unanimously recommended that the parliament adopt the draft law “On Inland Water Transport" at a meeting on 16 September.
