On 5 June 2025, the President of Ukraine signed the Law ‘On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Provision of Transport Services to the Population under Martial Law’ (Draft Law No. 12177-1).

As previously reported, the law permits buses, trams, trolleybuses and metro cars to be recognised as humanitarian aid and used for passenger transport in communities.

This refers to humanitarian aid from Ukrainian and international donors. Recipients may include municipal enterprises, such as road or urban electric transport operators.

The law will come into force one month after publication.

This law, along with others, is intended to comprehensively address the issue of the use of equipment transferred to communities as humanitarian aid.

We would like to remind you that on 18 December 2024, Law of Ukraine No. 3914-IX ‘On Amendments to Article 15 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Humanitarian Aid‘ Regarding the List of Recipients of Humanitarian Aid’ (Draft Law No. 11155-1), which, among other things, regulates the issues of receiving and using equipment and vehicles transferred by international partners as humanitarian aid by utility companies of communities.

Besides, on 8 January 2025, the Ukrainian Parliament approved the first reading of Draft Law No. 12250, which amends Article 201-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to improve liability for the illegal use of humanitarian aid by state and utility companies. This draft law stipulates that the use of humanitarian aid, charitable donations or free assistance by communities does not entail criminal liability.

Information from the Ministry for Development:

During the full-scale invasion, more than 90 Ukrainian communities in 22 regions received public transport as humanitarian aid. This includes almost 800 buses, 60 metro cars, dozens of trams and trolleybuses, totalling more than 1,000 vehicles.