KEY RISKS IN THE SPHERE OF TRANSPORT SECURITY IN UKRAINE AS AN OBJECT OF STATE ADMINISTRATION

Abstract

The article is devoted to the clarification and analytical disclosure of the essential features (understood as administrative and legal properties) of transport security in Ukraine, conceptualised as a special object of public administration. It is established that transport security, in its general sense, aims to establish a set of conditions under which the national transport system, as well as legal subjects operating within it, can function safely and sustainably. A state of transport security is recognised when unacceptable risks to life and health (whether within transport operations or at infrastructure facilities) have been eliminated, when potential harm to private and public property and the natural environment has been reduced to an acceptable minimum, and when infrastructure functions continuously with the capacity to perform mobilisation tasks as required. Furthermore, such a state presupposes compliance with state-defined benchmarks concerning safety levels, recovery timeframes, and systemic adaptability to evolving risk environments under both peacetime and exceptional legal regimes. In view of the articulated purpose and objectives of transport security, the article posits that its defining features as an object of public administration are best understood as the characteristics of a complex of administrative and legal relations through which public authorities plan, organise, and implement policies to ensure security in this domain. Accordingly, it is argued that several core properties characterise transport security within Ukraine’s system of public administration. First, transport security possesses a fundamentally public-law character, necessitating its regulation within a framework that is both transparent and subject to lawful public control. Second, it operates as a specialised object of administrative and legal regulation, governed by a structured body of normative legal acts. Third, its institutional implementation relies on a multi-level system of public and quasi-public actors involved in maintaining and guaranteeing transport security across various modes and sectors. Moreover, transport security is realised through the coordinated execution of core public administration functions, which include but are not limited to preventive, predictive, planning, informational, organisational, coordinative, administrative, and supervisory activities. The article further emphasises that transport security, as a form of integrated administrative and legal influence, is operationalised through a combination of specific forms, methods, and instruments of managerialcontrol. Finally, it is underscored that transport security is directed towards the protection of both public interests and the legitimate rights and expectations of individual citizens. It thereby serves to maintain an appropriate state of operational readiness and institutional resilience within the national transport system and provides the foundation for a coherent administrative and legal mechanism through which state policy in this critical area is implemented.