During the past year, carriers were compensated only 6% of the costs of transporting beneficiaries, which led to the fact that they do not want to operate routes to settlements with a large number of people who use benefits. Passage of a bill on fare allowances can help solve this problem.

This was stated by Oleksandr Dyachenko, head of the Department of Internal Road Transport of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure. According to him, the Ministry of Social Policy calculated that to compensate for all preferential transportation in 2023, about UAH 60 billion is needed, but only UAH 3.6 billion was compensated from local budgets, which is only 6%.

Representatives of the relevant ministry believe that such a situation leads to serious violations in the transport network, and it needs an immediate solution. Dyachenko also emphasized that there are settlements where the number of people using benefits is too large, and carriers have stopped carrying out transportation to these places.

Adoption of the draft law on fare allowances can be the first step in solving this problem. It aims to ensure adequate funding for carriers providing concessional transportation and to encourage them to continue operating in areas with high demand for these services.

Despite the complexity of the situation, the authorities are obliged to find effective solutions to ensure the availability and quality of transport services for all citizens, in particular those who have the right to discounted travel.