The law on the opening of the railway market for private carriers: a new stage of integration with the EU

On October 21, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered the government draft Law on the system and features of the functioning of the Ukrainian railway transport market (No. 12142), aimed at opening the domestic railway transport market for private carriers. This was stated by Roman Melnichenko, senior project manager in the field of railway infrastructure of the “Reform Support Team (RST) under the Ministry of Community, Territory and Infrastructure Development”, CTS reports.

In particular, he noted that this document will allow the implementation of the provisions of the directives on the certification of drivers, on the single European space, on railway safety, etc. In total, the draft law reflects the provisions of more than ten EU legislative acts in this area.

“The key ideas of the registered draft law are to open the railway transport market for private carriers. This is precisely why regulation of the rights and obligations of new market participants is needed,” Melnichenko emphasized.

Commenting on the possible timing of the adoption of the bill, he noted that Ukraine has an obligation to the EU to adopt a law on a competitive rail transport market by the end of next year.

At the same time, Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oleksandr Kava noted that the bill will not come into force immediately after its adoption, but only several years after the end of the war.

Tags: Market, draft law, railway transport, private carriers, EU