Transport

The transport system of Ukraine consists of the public transport (the railway, maritime, river, automobile, aviation and city electric transport, as well as the metropolitan), the industrial rail transport, departmental transport, the pipeline transport and the roads designated for the public use. Therefore, the effective Ukrainian legislation consists of many laws and normative acts, and is rather versatile so as to properly organize and regulate such an extensive transport system with a view to all the peculiarities depending on the type of transport.

The Law of Ukraine “On the Transport” dated 10 November 2010 should be regarded as the fundamental legislative act in this sphere, as it outlines the transport system in general and each type of transport in particular, states the purpose and the main principles of the state regulatory politics in this field, as well as imposes the necessity of obtaining the licenses for certain types of activities in the transport sphere.

The further regulation of the transport-related activities is achieved by applying the laws according to the type of transport in question. As of the current date, following normative acts are valid: the Law of Ukraine “On the Railway Transport” dated 04 July 1996, the Law of Ukraine “On the Automobile transport” dated 05 April 2001, the Law of Ukraine “On the Pipeline Transport” dated 15 May 1996, the Law of Ukraine “On the Functioning of the Integrated Transport System of Ukraine during the special period” dated 20 October 1998, the Law of Ukraine “On the City Electric Transport” dated 29 June 2004. Moreover, different types of transport are subject to the proper regulations established by the special acts, such as: the Code of the Merchant Shipping of Ukraine dated 23 May 1995, the Ukrainian Air Code dated 4 May 1993. Most of the charters that establish the detailed rules for different types of transport remain valid, even though they were enacted when Ukraine was a part of the USSR: the Charter of the Inland Waterway Transport of the USSR dated 15 October 1955; the Charter of the Automobile Transport of the USSR dated 27 June 1969; the Charter of the Ukrainian Railways dated 06 April 1998. It is also should be mentioned that there are the specific rules for the passengers’, luggage’s and cargo’s transportations, varying for the different types of transport and cargo.

There can also be defined another group of the normative acts which regulate the issues concerning the transportation and registration of the vehicles (e.g. the Law of Ukraine “On the Issues concerning the Entry into the Customs Territory and the Registration of the vehicles” dated 06 July 2005); payment of the taxes for the vehicles (the Law of Ukraine “On the tax paid by the proprietors of the vehicles” dated 11 December 1991).

There are also various regulations in regard to the safety, sanitary and ecological requirements to the vehicles in use, as well as to the rules of usage of the public means of transport and roads, etc.

Beside the above-mentioned legislative acts, it should be taken into account that Ukraine is also a member of many international treaties, such as but not limited to: Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea (1974), United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea ("Hamburg Rules") (1978), The Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) (1975). Thus, as established by the Ukrainian legislation, in case when there are some discrepancies between the national and the international regulations, the international regulations shall prevail, if the proper treaty has been duly ratified by Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.