Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development Serhiy Derkach on bus market reform. Key points from an interview with Forbes

In an interview with Forbes, Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development Serhiy Derkach spoke about the stages of bus market reform, popular international destinations, and the activities of bus stations. MAPA publishes the main points.

• Figures.

In 2024, carriers sold tickets for international flights worth UAH 20 billion. It is unknown how much domestic transportation brought in, as about 80% of the market operated “in the gray.”

Currently, more than 500 buses leave the country every day. Approximately the same number enter Ukraine.

Carriers are buying new buses: last year, more than 1,200 buses were imported, 303 of which were new.

• Licensing and popular destinations. 

The Ministry of Development has digitized the licensing process and simplified it as much as possible. A license costs about UAH 3,000 and can be obtained in three days. In total, the entire process takes up to 10 days.

Most of the new routes are to Poland, Germany, Moldova, and Italy.

• Mobile app for bus transportation. 

The Ministry of Development is working on updating autobus.gov.ua. It plans to give carriers the ability to manage their routes and sell tickets. Passengers will be able to purchase only legal flights. We want to launch an app based on the portal in the fall. The app will allow users to leave reviews about carriers and routes.

• Domestic routes. 

In 11 years, not a single new domestic route has been opened in Ukraine—this is a consequence of paper “route passports” and non-transparent tenders. In 2026, an electronic system will be created. The carrier or local authorities will form the route in their office, it will be registered within 10 days, and then a competition with transparent criteria will be announced.

• List of bus stations and construction of new ones.

The Ministry has created a Register of Bus Stations, which already includes more than 300 bus stations. In 2026, standards will be introduced: toilets, platforms, and waiting rooms.

New bus stations have already appeared, for example, in Busk. Construction is underway in Mukachevo and Bila Tserkva. But there are certain difficulties. The first is that many carriers do not want to use the services of bus stations and pick up passengers in parking lots. Another issue is that businesses often encounter problems when registering documents and confirming land rights, as many bus stations do not have the proper documents or have problems with land and real estate. We are working on simplifying this process.