Carriers have called on the government to step up the fight against the black market in international transport
The Federation of Transport Employers of Ukraine, the Association of International Road Carriers, the Association of Road Transport of Ukraine and the All-Ukrainian Association of Bus Stations of Ukraine have appealed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, demanding stronger measures to combat the black market in international passenger transport.
The appeal, published by the All-Ukrainian Association of Bus Stations of Ukraine, notes that illegal carriers have established a large-scale infrastructure for providing services. In particular, they advertise journeys via social media and messaging apps, accept payment in cash or via bank transfers to individuals’ bank cards, do not formally register drivers, and pass off commercial transport as private journeys.
Industry representatives emphasise that such activities result in losses to the state budget and pose risks to passengers due to the lack of insurance, checks on the technical condition of vehicles, and compliance with drivers’ working hours.
The authors of the appeal pay particular attention to transport operators using vehicles with a passenger capacity of up to nine people. According to them, such transport services are often provided without the necessary permits, exploiting loopholes in the legislation.
According to the associations’ estimates, over 1,000 transport operators and more than 5,000 minibuses operate in the shadow sector. They believe that the annual turnover of this market segment could amount to around 23 billion hryvnias.
The appeal notes that carrying out isolated inspections does not yield the desired results. Instead, the relevant organisations propose establishing permanent inter-agency working groups at central and regional levels.
They propose involving representatives from Ukrtransbezpeka, the State Tax Service, the National Police, the State Labour Service of Ukraine and the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine in their work.
In the carriers’ view, such groups should focus on the systematic detection of illegal schemes, verifying the origin of income, and bringing the international transport market out of the shadows.
The appeal also refers to potential reputational risks for Ukraine within the context of the European integration process. Industry representatives believe that the practice of disguising commercial journeys as private trips contravenes international rules on access to the transport market.
Earlier, Ukrainian MP Volodymyr Kreidenko estimated the size of the illegal international transport market at 10 billion hryvnias.
