The Ministry of Development has updated the rules for establishing and administering international bus services

The Ministry of Community, Territorial, and Infrastructure Development has updated the procedure for establishing and administering international routes, with an emphasis on electronic procedures and integration with European mechanisms.

Ministry of Development Order No. 483 “On Amendments to the Procedure for Organizing Regular, Irregular, and Shuttle (Shuttle-Type) Passenger Transport by Road in International Traffic” has entered into force.

The document effectively revamps the procedure for organizing international routes, taking into account Ukraine’s integration into the INTERBUS mechanisms and the digitization of procedures through electronic services. For businesses, this means stricter requirements for documenting routes, confirming the regularity of trips, and verifying the technical readiness of carriers.

The order introduces a number of innovations. For instance, the decision-making process is accelerated: if terms are successfully agreed upon with the foreign party, a decision must be issued within 10 calendar days, and the permit itself must be issued to the applicant within 5 business days. Additionally, carriers now have up to 20 calendar days to correct deficiencies in the submitted documentation directly through their personal online account.

In addition, the rules for route verification are changing. From now on, compliance with declared international flights will be verified every 12 months instead of every 4 months as before. To retain the right to a route, a business entity must ensure that at least 30% of the planned number of trips are completed. Furthermore, companies are given more time to begin operations: buses may start running on the approved route within 90 calendar days from the date the permit is uploaded to the electronic portal.

Key changes include:

1. The carrier must have the required number of buses (in the case of cooperation between several carriers—the total number of buses of such carriers) designated for passenger transport and listed in the carrier’s license file

2. The required number of buses for each carrier is determined based on one main bus per route and one reserve bus for every five routes, taking into account buses operating on interregional routes (if applicable);

3. The departure or arrival of buses for international regular passenger transport shall take place only from/to existing bus stations, and in the absence thereof—from/to stops specified in the timetable.

4. When opening an international route, the border crossing time at the selected border crossing point is reserved for 72 hours from the time the route (application) is created until the time a qualified electronic signature (qualified electronic signatures) is applied in the Unified System.

5. The application and documents submitted by the carrier are reviewed within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the application. The deadline for rectifying deficiencies shall not exceed 20 calendar days

• If the carrier meets the established requirements, the Ministry of Development, within 30 calendar days from the date of submission of the application through the Unified System, sends a letter to the competent authority of the foreign country requesting consideration of the possibility of opening, closing, or making changes to an existing international route, or extending the validity of Ukraine’s permit for a regular international bus route;
• If, within 6 months from countries sharing a border with Ukraine and 12 months from other foreign countries, no confirmation of the route’s feasibility is received from the date the letter was sent, consideration of the application is terminated by notifying the carrier via the Unified System;

6. The start date of service is determined by the carrier, but no later than 90 calendar days (previously 60) from the date the last permit was uploaded to the Unified System; otherwise, such a route will be subject to closure as one that is not being operated.

7. The extension of a Ukrainian permit for an international scheduled route is prohibited if, during the 12 months preceding the date of application, the actual number of flights operated was less than 30 percent of the frequency of flights specified in the Ukrainian permit, based on information from the “Electronic Border Crossing Queue” system.

8. Every 12 months (previously 120 days), international routes will be reviewed to determine whether there are grounds for their closure.

9. When providing non-scheduled passenger transport services in accordance with a permit issued by a foreign country, the carrier must use the passenger list to organize the provision of non-scheduled international passenger transport services by road (Appendix 6 to these Rules). The passenger list must include the last name, first name, and patronymic (if any) of the driver(s), as well as the name, last name, first name, and patronymic (if any) of the road carrier, along with a signature and seal (if applicable).