MAPA, together with participants, attended the forum “Connecting Cities and People: Bus Transport Forum,” which took place on December 19 in Kyiv. 

During the forum, Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development Serhiy Derkach presented the results of the reform of passenger transport in domestic and international traffic. You have probably read about most of the initiatives on the MAPA website, so this post is a kind of summary of the ministry's work.

In addition, MAPA Director Alona Veklich took part in the discussion panel, talking not only about the achievements of the bus sector in 2025, but also about the problems and immediate prospects for the development of the industry. 

Regarding the reform of international transport, the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine reported the following:

• The system for opening/changing/extending bus routes has been digitized through the carrier's online office;
• An electronic border crossing queue has been introduced, with a slot system in place at 20 checkpoints and another 5 checkpoints with a dynamic queue;
• The procedure for opening international routes with other countries has been simplified;
• European integration of route opening under the INTERBUS agreement. Full connection to the agreement is planned by 2027;

In the context of domestic transport, the following measures were introduced:

• Digitization of tenders, electronic permits. 
• Electronic opening of new routes;
• Development of a network of bus stations;
• Updating of the system of preferential transport;
• Law on “humanitarian public transport.”

In addition, the Ministry of Development emphasized the intensified fight against illegal carriers: for example, verification of irregular transport via EIKIS was launched. However, as Serhiy Derkach emphasized, next year work will be carried out to increase the responsibility of carriers for violating the rules of irregular transport. 

Separately, it is worth mentioning the intensified work on preferential transportation, namely draft law No. 5651-2, which provides for the verification of beneficiaries, the establishment of an automated accounting system, and the monetization of trips using electronic tickets and bank cards.