The Verkhovna Rada committee on transport has supported bills No. 2712 on amendments to the Merchant Shipping Code of Ukraine and No. 2713 on amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine aimed at promoting the development of river transportation in the country, the press service of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority has said.

"These bills will help protect Ukrainian roads from overloaded trucks and stimulate using one of the most ecological transport types, namely river, in Ukraine," MP Oleksandr Urbansky said.

According to the Merchant Shipping Code of Ukraine, vessels being state property, owned by Ukrainian citizens or legal entities that 100% belong to the residents of Ukraine, have the right to navigate under the national flag of Ukraine. At the same time, Article 131 of the Code restricts the right to carry out domestic traffic for ships under the foreign flag, in particular, they must obtain permission from the Ministry of Infrastructure.

"The current rules create a serious barrier not only to attracting foreign investors to the domestic shipping market, but also Ukrainian ship owners, who in the course of economic activities are often interested in a full or partial involvement of foreign partners. These norms are also inconsistent with the international practice," the authority said.

In view of this, draft law No. 2712 proposes providing foreign ships with the right to perform domestic traffic without special permission from the central executive authority and bill No. 2713 proposes relevant amendments to the Customs Code.

The profile committee decided to recommend the parliament adopt these bill as a basis.