Ukraine: President Zelenskiy signed the law “On Inland Water Transport
This law opens the Dnipro to foreign flag vessels and allows for the creation of a dedicated fund to rebuild the locks and docks.
Artem Kovalev, the Rada member who pushed for the law, has warned: “The river infrastructure is 75% worn out.” With the changes, he predicts, river cargo will triple to 30 million tons a year in 2024, the end of the Zelenskiy presidency. He said this cargo level would generation $500 million in taxes, $625 million in economic activity and 10,000 new jobs.
To boost cargo on the Dnipro River, the Infrastructure Ministry plans to introduce a liberalized regime where captains of foreign flag vessels have to simply email an application for a port call to the Maritime Administration within three working days of the intended visit. This will replace the current system of applying for one-time permits, a cumbersome and often costly system that effectively closes the Dnipro to most foreign flag cargo ships.
