KYIV – The Transport Community has completed technical assistance to Ukraine’s Ministry for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport to support closer alignment with EU maritime transport rules. The assistance focused on preparing legislation and next steps to reduce pollution from ships and improve the environmental sustainability of maritime transport.
The work reviewed Ukraine’s existing laws and the responsibilities of its institutions, identifying areas where changes are needed to meet EU requirements. Based on these findings, a plan was developed setting out the necessary legislative changes and a proposed timetable.
A roadmap was also prepared to guide implementation. It assesses the potential costs and benefits of the proposed measures and identifies the staff, technical capacity and funding needed to put them into practice.
The assistance delivered draft legislation in Ukrainian covering pollution from ships, sulphur limits in marine fuels, the use of cleaner energy in shipping, and the monitoring and reporting of ships’ greenhouse gas emissions. These drafts provide a foundation for the authorities to take the proposed changes through Ukraine’s legislative adoption process.
The next steps will be for the authorities of Ukraine to advance the draft legislation, provide the resources needed for implementation, and strengthen their capacity to monitor compliance and enforce the rules. Clear responsibilities and coordination between the institutions involved will be essential to ensure that legislative changes lead to practical improvements.
Once adopted and effectively implemented, these measures would help reduce the environmental impact of shipping and bring Ukraine’s maritime sector closer to EU standards and the EU market.
This technical assistance was financed by the European Union under the NDICI-GEO-NEAR/2023/452-688 grant awarded to the Permanent Secretariat of the Transport Community. The project supports preparatory activities aimed at facilitating the progressive integration of Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine into Transport Community activities.
