April 30, 2025, 12:25 p.m.
(Photo: Odesa City Council)
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed a law that allows municipal carriers (trams, trolleybuses and buses) to officially use vehicles received as humanitarian aid.
The corresponding draft law No. 12177-1 was supported by 278 MPs.
Previously, such assistance was available only to non-profit organizations, while all city carriers legally have the status of profitable enterprises. Because of this, humanitarian transport coming from abroad could not be used on the routes.
For example, 20 modern Mercedes buses, which Odesa received as humanitarian aid from partner cities Regensburg and Istanbul, have been idle in the fleet of the Odesmiskelektrotrans utility for a long time. Due to legal restrictions, these buses could not go on routes. And a similar situation is observed throughout Ukraine - more than 300 such vehicles remain immobile in different cities.
Back in the spring of 2024, the Odesa City Council appealed to the Ministry of Infrastructure to solve the problem. It was supported by the Association of Ukrainian Cities, and Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov raised the issue on behalf of the Association at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President.
The new law changes the situation: now municipal carriers can officially launch humanitarian buses, trams and trolleybuses.
Ірина Глухова