In the course of fifteen years during which the Civil Code of Ukraine (Ukraine’s CC) keeps in force, scientific research efforts focused on breach of a contractual obligation as a category of civil law have become one of the crucial areas of civil studies. The need to study the essence and composition of breach of a contractual obligation ensues from the consolidation of Chapter 51 “Legal Consequences of Breach of an Obligation. Liability for Breach of an Obligation” in the structure of Ukraine’s CC, and is also linked to an array of special legislative enactments which were adopted in recent years and the contents of which require an analysis from the perspective of their counteraction to illegal acts in the domain of personal non-property and property relations, including contractual relations comprising the provision of transportation services. This article aims at clarifying the concept and distinguishing the types of breach of contractual obligations to provide transportation services, with due regard for the current developments in the civil doctrine and the provisions of current legislation of Ukraine. The article analyzes the concept and signs of breach of contractual obligations to provide transportation services. It is established that breach of the obligations which the parties have under transportation contracts means such a state of legal relations when the counterparty fails to comply with the requirements established by law or the terms of the contract. The author proves that it is inexpedient to recognize a breach of a contractual obligation to provide transportation services as a unilateral transaction, since lawful actions of the debtor or other entities are possible only provided that the contractual obligation is properly performed. Therefore, any breach (both non-performance and improper performance) of contractual obligations to provide transportation services constitutes a type of civil offense and is regarded as the unlawful legal fact. Breach of contractual obligations to provide transportation services is a generic category, since it covers such concepts as non-performance and improper performance of these obligations. Non-performance of contractual obligations to provide transportation services means such actions or omissions of the parties to the obligation which result in the obligation not been fully fulfilled. Improper performance of contractual obligations to provide transportation services is the debtor’s failure to comply with the requirements regarding the obligation established by acts of civil legislation and/or the transportation contract. The author proposes to classify breaches of contractual obligations to provide the transportation services by the following criteria: a) character of the debtor’s behavior; b) the party whose behavior is associated with the breach (carrier, passenger, consignee, shipper, etc.); c) breach of the transportation contract terms in respect of at least one of the performance modus elements (subject matter, method, place of performance, deadline, etc.); d) significance of breach of an obligation.

List of legal documents 

Legislation 
1. Pravyla nadannia posluh pasazhyrskoho avtomobilnoho transportu [Rules for the Provision of Passenger Motor Transportation Services]: postanova Kabinetu Ministriv Ukrainy [Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine] vid 18 liutoho 1997 r. № 176 (accessed: 01.12.2018) (in Ukrainian). 
2. Pravyla povitrianykh perevezen pasazhyriv i bahazhu [Regulations for Air Travel of Passengers and Baggage]: nakaz Ministerstva infrastruktury Ukrainy [Order of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine] vid 30 lystopada 2012 r. № 735 (accessed: 01.12.2018) (in Ukrainian). 
3. Tsyvilnyi kodeks Ukrainy [The Civil Code of Ukraine]: Zakon Ukrainy [the Law of Ukraine] vid 16 sichnia 2003 r. № 435-IV (accessed: 01.12.2018) (in Ukrainian). 
4. Uhoda pro asotsiatsiiu mizh Ukrainoiu, z odniiei storony, ta Yevropeiskym Soiuzom, Yevropeiskym spivtovarystvom z atomnoi enerhii i yikhnimy derzhavamy-chlenamy, z inshoi storony [Association Agreement between Ukraine, of the One Part, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and Their Member States, of the Other Part] vid 21 bereznia 2014 r. (accessed: 01.12.2018) (in Ukrainian). 
5. Zvit pro vykonannia Uhody pro asotsiatsiiu mizh Ukrainoiu ta Yevropeiskym Soiuzom u 2017 r. [2017 Report on the Implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union] (accessed: 01.12.2018) (in Ukrainian). 

Bibliography 

Authored books 
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Edided books 
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Journal articles 
25. Kuznecova N, ‘Grazhdansko-pravovaja otvetstvennost’: ponjatie, uslovie i mehanizm primenenija’ [‘Civil Liability for Breach of Contract’] (2010) 3 Al’manah civilistiki (in Russian). 

Thesis abstracts 
26. Kanzafarova I, ‘Teoretychni osnovy tsyvilno-pravovoi vidpovidalnosti v Ukraini’ [‘Theoretical Bases of Civil-Law Liability in Ukraine’] (avtoref dys d-ra yuryd nauk, Instytut derzhavy i prava imeni V M Koretskoho Natsionalnoi akademii nauk Ukrainy 2007) (in Ukrainian). 

Dissertations 
27. Hohlov V, ‘Grazhdansko-pravovaja otvetstvennost’ za narushenie dogovora’ [‘Civil Liability for Breach of Contract’] (dys d-ra yuryd nauk, Samarskaja gosudarstvennaja ekonomicheskaja akademija 1998) (in Russian). 
28. Hryshko O, ‘Porushennia dohovirnoho zobov’iazannia: poniattia, vydy, pravovi naslidky’ [‘Breach of a Contractual Obligation: Concept, Types, Legal Consequences’] (dys d-ra yuryd nauk, Kyivskyi natsionalnyi universytet imeni Tarasa Shevchenka 2013) (in Ukrainian).