The State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety (DSBT, Ukrtransbezpeka) issued 176 licenses for passenger bus transportation in January-June this year, compared to 540 last year, 823 in 2023, and 783 in 2022, said the head of Ukrtransbezpeka, Mykyta Lagunin, in an interview with the agency “Interfax-Ukraine.”
“First, the market is already saturated. Secondly, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a simplified procedure for obtaining licenses was adopted. But in 2024, this forced norm was revised to take into account European integration aspirations, so there was a return to stricter conditions for issuing licenses,” he explained the dynamics of the reduction in the issuance of licenses.
Lahunin recalled that after the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, air traffic was blocked, rail transport also has certain restrictions, so there was a surge in bus transportation.
He noted that Ukrtransbezpeka is constantly working to create services that help passengers feel safe and understand who is transporting them today, for which purpose it is opening all its databases. Among other things, the head of the service advised using the Register of Issued and Revoked Licenses on the single state portal of open data (https://middleware.dsbt.gov.ua/lc/licenses).
He also reminded that a service https://autobus.gov.ua/ has been created, where you can buy a ticket directly from a carrier that has all the necessary documents: a license and the appropriate permits to operate on this route.
“In addition, there is a convenient service for checking licensees by vehicle number (https://autobus.gov.ua/). You see a bus, enter its license plate number, and immediately receive all the information: whether it has a license or not,” Lagunin gave another piece of advice.
He noted that for the convenience of passengers and to create equal, convenient, and efficient conditions in the market for carriers, Ukrtransbezpeka is trying to digitize all of its service functions as much as possible.
“Our main body is the Unified Information System Complex, known as EKIS, part of which is EKP, the electronic carrier’s office.
We are focused on developing this tool: we are constantly improving it, adding new modules, and engaging in ongoing dialogue with businesses to get feedback on what else we can improve,” added the head of Ukrtransbezpeka.
As an example of the fight for fair rules in the market, Lagunin cited recent changes to passenger transport regulations, which will come into force in three months, in September this year. According to him, from now on, irregular carriers will be allowed to operate no more than twice a week with one vehicle on one route.
“If you want more, go and get a permit. We have developed an electronic module. The system will not allow you to enter information about a trip more times than required by law. And if a carrier has not entered this trip and is providing transportation, it is automatically considered a violator because it has not declared its intention to transport passengers on this route,” explained the head of Ukrtransbezpeka.
According to the Register of Issued and Revoked Licenses on the service’s website, it currently contains 12,392 entries on valid licenses for passenger bus transportation, of which 3,095 are for international transportation.
Initial registrations of new and used buses (including minibuses) in Ukraine in January-June 2025 increased by 36% compared to the same period last year, to 1,185 units, UkrAvtoprom reported on its Telegram channel.
According to the association, registrations of new vehicles increased by 12% to 534 units, while registrations of used vehicles increased by 67% to 651 units.
In June, demand for buses increased by 11% compared to June 2024, amounting to 154 units, but compared to May this year, when 210 buses were registered, it decreased by 26.7%.
The share of new vehicles in this volume was 48%, compared to 45% last year.
According to statistics from UkrAvtoprom, 17.5% more new buses were sold last month than last year, with Ukrainian buses being the most frequently registered: Ataman from the Cherkasy Bus factory – 27 units (18 last year), Bogdan manufactured by BAS Motor – 12 units (none registered last year), and ZAZ Zaporizhzhia Automobile Plant – 8 units (none last year).
Among used buses, Mercedes-Benz leads with 29 units, followed by VDL (9 units) and Van Hool (8 units).
As reported with reference to data from UkrAvtoprom, in 2024, initial registrations of new and used buses decreased by 19% compared to 2023, to 2,241 units, including new buses by 24%, to 1,296 units, and used buses by 12%, to 945 units.
Initial registrations of new and used buses (including minibuses) in Ukraine in May 2025 rose by 62% compared to the same month in 2024, to 210 units, according to UkrAvtoprom on Telegram.
Compared to April this year, demand remained unchanged.
According to the association, new vehicles accounted for 43% of this volume, compared to 37% last year.
As in the previous year, the most popular new buses last month were Ataman buses manufactured by the Cherkasy Bus plant, with 27 units registered. (last year – 22 units), followed by Ford with 22 buses (in May 2024, the brand also ranked second, but with seven vehicles), and the domestic Etalon came in third with 13 units (six units).
According to UkrAvtoprom, among used buses, Mercedes-Benz was the most frequently registered, with 41 units, followed by Volkswagen with 17 units and MAN with 13 units.
In January-May, a total of 1,030 buses were added to Ukraine’s bus fleet (+41% compared to the same period in 2024), of which 459 were new (+11%) and 571 were used (+81%).
According to data from UkrAvtoprom, in 2024, initial registrations of new and used buses decreased by 19% compared to 2023, to 2,241 units, including new buses by 24%, to 1,296 units, and used buses by 12%, to 945 units.
Initial registrations of new and used buses (including minibuses) in Ukraine in January 2025 increased by 37% compared to the first month of 2024 – up to 233 units, Ukravtoprom reported on its Telegram channel.
Compared to December last year, when a record number of buses was registered for the month, demand for them in January 2025 decreased by 29.4%.
According to the association, the share of new vehicles in this volume was 64% (last year it was 70%).
Most often among the new buses in January, domestic vehicles were registered for the first time – Ataman buses from Cherkasy Bus – 36 units, Etalon buses from Chernihiv Automobile Plant – 34 units, and ZAZ buses from Zaporizhzhia – 27 units.
The most frequently registered used buses were Mercedes-Benz – 25 units; VDL – 15 units and VW – 11 units.
As reported with reference to Ukravtoprom data, in 2024, the initial registrations of new and used buses decreased by 19% compared to 2023 – to 2,241 thousand units, in particular, new buses by 24% – to 1,296 thousand, used buses – by 12%, to 945 units.
Initial registrations of new and used buses (including minibuses) in Ukraine in 2024 decreased by 19% compared to 2023, to 2,241 thousand units, Ukravtoprom reported on its telegram channel.
At the same time, registrations of new buses decreased by 24% to 1,296 thousand, and used buses by 12% to 945 units.
The top five most registered new vehicles last year were Ataman manufactured by Cherkasy Bus (350 units), Etalon manufactured by Chernihiv Automobile Plant (254 units), Ford buses (191 units), Ukrainian ZAZ buses (154 units), and Citroen buses (122 units).
The most frequently registered used buses were Mercedes-Benz – 309 units; Van Hool – 103 units; VW – 78 units; VDL – 71 units and Iveco – 62 units.
The Association reported that in December, 330 buses and minibuses were registered in Ukraine – 30% more than in December 2023, and 27% more than in November 2024.
“This is a record number of buses over the past 35 months,” Ukravtoprom stated.
The share of new vehicles in total registrations amounted to 59% (195 units), which is 6 percentage points less than last year and 4 percentage points less than in November 2024.
According to the Association’s statistics, in December, the top five leaders in new bus registrations were Ataman (59 units – 10 units less than in December 2023), Ford (39 units against eight a year earlier), ZAZ (29 units – 2 units less), Etalon (28 units against 16 units) and Renault (10 units against one).
In Ukraine, buses are produced by Cherkasy Bus, Chernihiv Automobile Plant of Etalon Corporation, Zaporizhzhia Automobile Plant of UkrAuto Group, and Bas Motor LLC (Bogdan buses), but the bulk of their production is school buses purchased by regions under the School Bus state program.
In addition, large buses are produced by Lviv-based Electron Corporation (9 such buses were registered in December).
Ukraine has simplified the opening of international bus routes with the Czech Republic, exempting carriers from the need to confirm the presence of a parity partner from a neighboring country, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure (MinRestore) has announced.
According to the report, the period for coordinating the route and issuing a permit will not exceed four months. Communication channels have been established between the countries specifically for the opening of routes.
The relevant changes were agreed upon at a meeting of the joint commission between the Ministry of Reconstruction and the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic.
“The growing demand for bus transportation requires the state to ensure an effective process of opening new routes so that the market can quickly respond to passenger demand. The Czech Republic is one of the most popular countries in terms of bus service, so together with our Czech colleagues we have simplified the procedure for opening routes,” Deputy Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Serhiy Derkach said in a statement.
He expressed hope that the decision would help improve transport accessibility, increase passenger traffic and help boost business.
The report indicates that the Czech Republic became the first country with which Ukraine ensured full compliance of regular bus routes.
This year, agreements on non-parity passenger transportation were also signed with Slovakia.
