The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in its second reading and as a whole adopted draft law No. 7508, which provides for the introduction of amendments to a number of legislative acts with the aim of simplifying the mechanism of attracting private capital through public-private partnerships (PPPs). About this reported Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development, Dmytro Natalukha.
The document is aimed at accelerating the restoration of infrastructure destroyed as a result of the war, as well as the construction of new facilities within the framework of post-war economic development. The law was supported by 256 people’s deputies. The draft law was registered in July 2022, and in October of the same year it was approved in the first reading. The adoption of the document is a key step towards the completion of the PPP reform.
The law creates a basis for the implementation of new concession projects and other forms of PPP, which are already being developed by the Ministry of Development and state partners. Among them are concessions within the first, container and fifth (railway-ferry) terminals of Chornomorsk port, as well as the property of AMPU connected with them.
The document also improves the regulatory framework for the implementation of the national tolling system, which will allow the collection of payment for the passage of certain road sections by freight transport. In the transport sector, support is provided for pilot projects related to the construction, operation and maintenance of roads, tunnels, airports, as well as the development of public transport — in particular, the purchase of rolling stock and the provision of passenger transportation services.
The law is designed to regulate the situation with concession projects in the ports of Olbia and Kherson, the implementation of which was suspended due to the full-scale invasion of Russia and the blockade of Mykolaiv ports.
In general, as the authors note, the adoption of this law will simplify and unify the procedures for preparing PPP projects for infrastructural restoration and new construction. Among the innovations is the possibility of combining private and donor financing, which reduces investment risks, as well as the elimination of barriers identified during the implementation of previous pilot initiatives. For small projects with a value of up to 5.5 million euros, a reduction of the documentation preparation period is foreseen — from 19 to 8–12 months.
