Topicality. Currently, the demand for transport by inland waterways is constantly growing, especially in economically developed countries. In order to maintain the national economy and create a more efficient and sustainable logistics system in Ukraine, transportation by inland waterways must be developed, because inland waterway transport has a number of advantages over other modes of transport, which creates the preconditions for changing logistics routes. To reduce transport costs, improve infrastructure and logistics in the face of uncertainty, the relationship between the stakeholders of rail and road transport with representatives of water transport is important. Reorientation of transportation from road transport to inland waterway transport, intensification of international trade and attraction of new freight flows to inland waterway transport will contribute to the overall growth of the country's economy and is possible subject to liberalization of transportation.Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the economic and environmental feasibility of transporting goods by inland waterway transport in the context of the global trend of the need to preserve the environment and rational use of resources.Research results. The port infrastructure of Ukrainian rivers also does not meet modern requirements and is actually in decline. Most of the ports are located in the central areas of cities, causing the destruction of city roads by trucks that are sent for loading / unloading at these ports. In the context of the global trend of the need to preserve the environment for most countries of the world, inland waterway transport is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly mode of transport, suitable for transporting significant volumes of products, mainly raw materials. In Ukraine, the volume of cargo transported by river transport has significantly decreased over the past decade. Of the available volumes of freight transport by river transport, building materials, grain and metallurgy products prevail in the nomenclature. A certain impetus to the development of inland waterway transport was the adoption of the Law of Ukraine "On Inland Waterway Transport", which outlined the prospects for increasing the cargo turnover of river transport. Considering the volume of emissions from river transport, it is the most environmentally friendly compared to road transport. At the same time, the existing rolling stock of water transport is capable of replacing several thousand trucks. It has been established that the Dnieper basin plays the main role in the transportation of domestic cargo and passengers. More than 90% of all river transport in the country is carried out along the Dnieper and its largest tributaries Pripyat and Desna. However, the low operational characteristics of the fleet are one of the factors holding back the development of freight traffic on inland waterways. The four selected shipping companies provide cargo transportation on the Dnieper and Danube rivers, and are also capable of ensuring the potential development and competitive advantages of Ukrainian water transport.Conclusion. The studies carried out made it possible to substantiate the economic and environmental feasibility of transporting goods by inland water transport in Ukraine. Based on the determination of the share of transportations by inland water transport in the EU countries and Ukraine, the potential opportunities for the development of this area were established, taking into account other similar indicators, as well as the growth of export flows of grain and metallurgical products from the central part of Ukraine. Therefore, the development of domestic inland waterways is economically necessary, expedient and will have a positive effect for the entire country and the economy as a whole, given the low level of pollution and environmental pressure on air, land, water resources, biodiversity, which, in turn, affect climate change. , ecosystems in general and public health. Taking into account the total length of the navigable routes of Ukraine and the tendency to reduce the existing fleet, due to moral and physical aging, it is important to assist in attracting investments in the river fleet, will provide potential technical and technological opportunities for the development of all inland water transport and its key players.
Sustainable Transport in the Danube Region
