12 Mar Laws in the marine and river industries
Today we recall the most important events at the legislative level in 2020-2021
The beginning of last year foreshadowed the transfer of 2 seaports of Ukraine to a concession (transfer of state property to private hands for the purpose of modernization).
First to enter the concession was the Kherson Sea Trade Port. Concessionaire began here to implement a scheme to increase trading activity using warehouse, laboratory and loading resources. He said that in mutually beneficial cooperation with the authorities, it is possible to increase the turnover for the maximum loading of the port.
In February 2020, the head of the MIU, Vladislav Krikliy, informed that Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, Skadovsky and Ust-Dunaisk ports are being put up for privatization, since hardly anyone will go there for a concession.
In June last year, the Black Sea Port became another concession project after the Kherson Sea Trade Port and Olvia Port. The next stage was the preparation of the concession for the Odessa, Berdyansk, Izmail and Skadovsk ports.
At the end of 2020, V. Krykliy said that in the next 4 years, all Ukrainian ports will be transferred for privatization to private individuals or on a concession.
The Law “On Inland Water Transport “
The Law No. 1182-1 “On inland waterway transport” has been discussed for more than one year, and only last year everything got under way.
According to the MIU, the proposed law could improve shipbuilding, revive factories and create many jobs; expand the market with foreign vessels, develop trade links between countries and water connections between Belarus and Ukraine, partially exempt inland navigation vessels from various duties; optimally shorten the process of registration and issuance of relevant documents; improve the investment climate. A meeting was held on these points, where its participants (businessmen and industry societies) informed the public about the reaction of the authorities to the wishes of the forum participants. This was foreseen, since opinions on some issues differed significantly.
The European Business Association (EBA) emphasizes the lack of coordination of this bill with the position of business structures. Here are three main notes on the document:
- A number of clauses abolish the deregulation of doing business. According to this regulation, it is necessary to create infrastructure facilities for water transport and additionally coordinate construction objects with central authorities;
- Port dues are the main source of support for inland waterways;
- No work has been done to create a fund for inland waterways of Ukraine.
In September 2020, the Verkhovna Rada decided to postpone consideration of the draft law No. 1182-1-d, and the proposals of business representatives were ignored. But the preparation of the document continued, and on December 3, the Rada voted in favor of the bill. According to the rules, the law comes into force from the moment it is signed by Vladimir Zelensky. Therefore, the concessionaires offered to veto it. But the President of Ukraine did not listen to the proposals of business, and after being adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, he signed the bill.
Other laws worth mentioning
In May last year, the MIU, at the discretion of the public, published a draft law on the creation of a National Commission for Regulation in the Transport Industry.
In September, the Cabinet of Ministers by its decree expanded the list of waterways for shipping. They include such areas as: the Dnieper from the Kiev hydroelectric power station to Kherson and from Pripyat to the Kiev hydroelectric power station, the Dnieper from Nizhniye Zhary to the mouth of the Pripyat, Pripyat from the border with Belarus to the mouth, the Southern Bug to Nikolaev, Desna from Chernigov to the mouth, Danube within the boundaries of the settlement Orlovka.
Already at the beginning of 2021, MIU proposed a draft document “On Certain Issues of Port Dues”. This document approved a new calculation of port dues payment in seaports and the turnover of funds from these dues. But as practice has shown, a 50% discount on disbursement during transit did not justify itself, since the flow of transit goods in the country did not increase. This is due to the fact that the transit price has many constituent factors. One of them is the tariff of Ukrzaliznytsia for the delivery of goods, which remains at a high level. In this regard, it is not advisable to count on an increase in transit cargo by reducing port dues.
It also became known that the MIU is working on improving the “Rules for the provision of services in the seaports of Ukraine” in accordance with the rules of the European Union. By updating them, the Ministry plans to regulate a unified procedure for the development and approval of documentation for transshipment of goods in the territories and in the waters of the seaports of Ukraine.