Passenger traffic down on int'l bus routes in 2023 - Ukrainian deputy restoration minister

MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) - The number of passengers using buses to travel abroad in Ukraine decreased to 7.5 million in 2023 from 8.5 million in 2022, Ukrainian media outlets said with a reference to the numbers provided by Ukrainian Deputy Restoration Minister Sergei Derkach.

Only 1.1 million passengers used buses to travel abroad in 2020, he said.

"It is a big passenger flow for Ukraine today. For instance, the Ukrainian Railways transported two million passengers in the past year," Derkach said.

In absence of air traffic, buses have become one of the main ways to travel abroad from Ukraine at present, he said.

The average duration of international travel by bus is 31 hours, including about seven hours of waiting on the border.

"This is exactly what the state must change and what we must change. This is why we are presenting our reform today, the electronic instruments which will help passengers and carriers in the first place," Derkach said.

The register of international transportation will soon be available for passengers, and every passenger will be able to find their route, verify a carrier using it and purchase a ticket after heading over to its website, he said. A dashboard of a carrier is being created for carriers, they will be able to open new routes fast, without paperwork and bureaucratic procedures using it.

The deputy minister said he hopes that the reform of international bus travel would enable increasing budget revenues. According to Derkach, nearly 25% carriers operate on the market without paying their taxes, and the budget is lacking up to 500 million hryvni every year.