Peculiarities of legal regulation of port dues administration in Ukraine

Abstract

The article highlights the issue of legislative consolidation and implementation of the powers of public authorities and other entitiesin the field of port dues in Ukraine. The imperfection of the legal support of management activities in this area is manifested in thefact that special legislation in the legal mechanism of port dues provides for the presence of a specially authorized body – the nationalcommission for state regulation in the field of transport. Such a commission should ensure the establishment of the rates of port fees,approval of the methodology for their calculation and control over the targeted use of funds from such fees. At present, the absence ofa national commission, as well as the absence of a legislative act that determines the legal basis of its activities, leads to inadequate provisionof the port collection process by the state. This is claimed, in particular, in the contradictions in determining the legal nature ofport dues, the lack of justification for their rates, as well as the lack of mechanisms to control the targeted use of funds from such payments.Due to the fact that the laws do not contain a provision stipulating that the procedure for organizing the activities of a national commission is determined by a separate special law, there is also the problem of uncertainty about the legal status of such a commission.According to the current legislation, the legal basis for the activities of the national commission in the field of transport as a centralexecutive body must be determined in accordance with the legislation on central executive bodies, namely: at the level of the relevantregulation approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.