Kirdina and Ukrainska (2022) believe that such
negative trends in the development of railway
transport are largely due to the long-term
accumulation of systemic problems, including:
− deterioration of the condition of the railway
track and infrastructure in general as a result
of the postponement of repair works;
− reduced fleet of technically serviceable
rolling stock due to ignoring the need for its
timely renewal and modernization;
− increasing wear and tear of the production
and repair base of railway transport
enterprises;
− implementing ineffective investment,
innovation, personnel, and marketing
policies by the company.
Before considering railway transport of Ukraine
as an object of financial and legal relations and a
subject of financial control, it is necessary to
investigate and define the following legal
categories: "transport", "railway transport",
"financial and legal relations" and "subject of
financial control".
According to Bilodid (1979), the term "transport"
refers to:
1) a branch of the national economy that carries
out the transportation of passengers,
delivery, cargo movement, etc. by various
means;
2) one or another type of means of transport;
3) any means of transport, as well as a
combination of such means;
4) means of transport of a certain territorial
subordination;
5) a certain section of transport as well as the
number of vehicles serving it.
The authors of the textbook on market statistics
(Pidhornyi & Samotoienkova, 2014) note that the
term "transport" comes from the Latin words
trans (through) and portare (carry). The product
of transport is the process of transportation, that
is, the process of moving goods and passengers
in the environment of human life. Transport is a
branch of economic infrastructure, which is
considered one of the priorities in the state. The
peculiarity of transport as a type of economic
activity for the provision of services is that the
production process of other sectors of the
economy is completed by moving products from
the producer to consumers, and the value created
by the labor spent on this movement, is added to
the cost of transported products, although new
material values are not created in this area.
According to Kushnir (2015, p. 42), transport is
one of the most important industry branches,
providing production and non-production needs
of the economy and the country’s population in
all types of transportation.
The legislator also fixed the definition of the term
"transport". Thus, according to the Law of
Ukraine No. 232/94-VR (1994), transport in the
system of public production is one of the most
important branches of public production and is
designed to meet the needs of the population and
public production in transportation. The
development and improvement of transport is
carried out in accordance with state target
programs, taking into account its priority and
based on the achievements of scientific and
technical progress and is provided by the state.
Thus, the transport of Ukraine should be
understood as a system of various types of
vehicle ensuring the movement of people and
goods on the territory of Ukraine and
international transit. It includes rail transport,
road transport, sea transport, river transport, air
transport and pipeline transport. The transport
system of Ukraine is an important component of
the country's infrastructure and plays a crucial
role in ensuring economic development. It
ensures the movement of people and goods
between different regions of Ukraine, which is
necessary for the development of trade and other
sectors of the economy.
As far as rail transport is concerned, the Law of
Ukraine No. 232/94-VR (1994) states that it
includes railway transport enterprises carrying
out the transportation of passengers, cargo,
baggage, mail, rolling stock of railway transport,
railway lines of communication, as well as
industrial, construction, trade and supply
enterprises, educational institutions, technical
schools, children’s preschools, health care,
physical education and sports institutions,
culture, scientific research, design and
construction organizations, industrial railway
transport and other enterprises, institutions and
organizations regardless of ownership that ensure
its activity and development.
Along with this, the Law of Ukraine No. 273/96-
VR (1996) defines the main legal, economic and
organizational principles of the operation of
public railway transport, its role in the economy
and social sphere of Ukraine, and governs its
relations with executive bodies, authorities, local
self-government bodies, other modes of
transport, passengers, senders and receivers of
goods, baggage, and mail, taking into account the