STAKEHOLDER INTERACTION MANAGEMENT IN TRANSPORT PROJECTS

Abstract

The article addresses the scientific and practical task of improving stakeholder interaction management in multimodal transport projects. The relevance of the study stems from the need to coordinate public authorities, transport operators, businesses, investors, and communities during the recovery of Ukraine's transport infrastructure and its integration into the European transport network. The study aims to develop a network-oriented mechanism for identifying weak communication ties and prioritizing conflicts by combining social network analysis with mutually beneficial interaction tools. The methodology integrates stakeholder theory, network governance, social network analysis, and scenario modeling. A weighted undirected interaction graph of 12 stakeholders was constructed for a model scenario of a multimodal logistics hub. Degree centrality, weighted degree, betweenness centrality, and eigenvector centrality were calculated. The terminal operator has the highest interaction intensity and eigenvector centrality, while the line ministry has the highest betweenness centrality. Weak ties were identified between customs and road carriers and between the terminal operator and the local community. The scientific novelty consists in improving the conflict criticality index by incorporating the betweenness centrality of the parties. In the model scenario, the modified index increased the criticality assessment of the conflict between Ukrainian Railways and the terminal operator from 0.54 to 0.58. The results can support communication priorities, coordination bodies, and preventive conflict-resolution measures. Further research should empirically test the mechanism using data from actual transport projects and examine the sensitivity of the modified index.