River pilot services can become a natural monopoly
2.06.2021 - 10:15
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine (MIU) has published for discussion a Draft Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers “On the definition of a specialized service provided on inland waterways by natural monopolies entities and subjected to state regulation.”
According to the press service of the MIU, the Draft Decision was developed to implement the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Inland Water Transport”, to establish a list of specialized services on inland waterways by natural monopolies entities, which are subjected to state regulation.
According to the first part of the 8th Section of the Law “On Inland Water Transport”, the list of specialized services on inland waterways by natural monopolies entities that carry out state regulation in the field of transport is determined by the Cabinet.
The services of pilotage of vessels on inland waterways specified in Section 47 of the Law, which are carried out by river pilots and provided by the state pilot organization to all vessels, including foreign ones, do not apply to free tariffs.
Pilotage of vessels on inland waterways is aimed at ensuring the safety of navigation, respectively, is an integral part of a set of measures aimed at ensuring the safe use of inland waterways for navigation, according to the MIU.
“Presently, pilotage services on river inland waterways are provided by river pilots of the State Enterprise “Ukrvodshlyakh”, which belongs to the sphere of management of the MIU. In accordance with clause 4.8 of the Regulation on State River Pilots, approved by order of the Ministry of Transport № 11 dated January 14th, 2002, a fee is charged from vessels using the services of pilots, the order and amount of which is established by agreement,” the document says.
The MIU believes that the adoption of the act contributes to the implementation of the state’s international obligations to ensure the safety of human health and life, the safety of navigation, as well as maximum assistance to consumers of pilotage services and improve the quality of pilotage services on the inland waterways of Ukraine.
The document can be found on the website of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
