Verkhovna Rada approves draft law on humanitarian "public transport"

On April 30, MPs approved in the second reading a government draft law that allows public utilities to use public transport received as humanitarian aid to transport passengers.

The draft law No. 12177-1 “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Meeting the Needs of the Population for Transportation under Martial Law” was voted in favor by 278 MPs.

"Today we have an important decision that will significantly help our communities, especially when it comes to the frontline regions. The ability to use public transport donated by philanthropists is a necessity for the regions that have already received more than a thousand vehicles but have not been allowed to use them fully. I am grateful to the MPs for supporting the initiative and to the community representatives who have been actively advocating this issue. The adoption of this draft law is an example of when the local, regional and national levels have jointly developed an important solution in a short time," said Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, Minister for Communitie and Territories Development.

The initiative covers humanitarian aid from both Ukrainian and international donors in the form of passenger transportation vehicles.

The humanitarian transport can be purchased by municipal enterprises - carriers of road or urban electric transport.

It is essential to note that buses of at least Euro-3 environmental standard, trolleybuses, trams, electric buses, and subway cars can be recognized as humanitarian aid.

It also regulates the transfer of the received vehicles to third parties. In addition, the draft law sets out the limits of the legal use of such assistance to prevent the risk of unjustified criminal and/or administrative liability.

As a reminder, during the full-scale invasion, almost 90 Ukrainian communities received public transportation as humanitarian aid. We are talking about more than 800 buses, dozens of trams and trolleybuses.

Therefore, the approval of the draft law will allow the use of the transport already received and will help ensure that communities do not refuse to continue receiving transport from benefactors.