While the minimum wage is 8,647 UAH, the travel pass costs almost 5,000 UAH: in Kyiv, they once again protested against new tariffs

A new electronic petition against the increase in fares for municipal public transport has been registered in Kyiv. The document, published on July 9 under No. 14369, demands freezing tariffs until an adequate indexation of citizens' real incomes and the full renewal of city transport according to European standards.

Note that the minimum wage in Ukraine is 8,647 UAH, while the unlimited monthly travel pass for the metro, bus, tram, trolleybus, and funicular in Kyiv is proposed to cost 4,875 UAH. Such the price of the monthly travel pass is higher than, in particular, the unlimited pass in Germany, which costs about 3,235 UAH when converted.

This is another petition related to the city authorities' intentions to revise the cost of travel. Two previous ones have already gathered the required number of votes for consideration, but one was rejected by the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA). Earlier, the authors emphasized the inadmissibility of raising tariffs during martial law and recalled the promises of Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko not to increase the cost of travel until the end of the war; the new petition focuses on the level of the population's income.

What tariffs does the KCSA propose

The KCSA plans to set the cost of a single ride in municipal transport at 30 hryvnias. The new tariff will apply to the metro, buses, trolleybuses, and trams.

It is also proposed to introduce a transfer ticket for 60 UAH, which will allow unlimited transfers between the metro and surface transport within 90 minutes.

At the same time, a discount system is provided for users of the transport card depending on the number of trips purchased. Thus, the cost of one trip will be:

• 1–9 trips — 30 UAH;
• 10–19 — 28.90 UAH;
• 20–29 — 27.80 UAH;
• 30–39 — 26.60 UAH;
• 40–49 — 25.50 UAH;
• 50 trips — 25 UAH each.

Why the city authorities insist on revising tariffs

The KCSA explains the need to increase the cost of travel by a significant rise in the expenses of operating the transport system.

According to transport companies' calculations, the economically justified tariff for 2026 is 64.60 UAH for one metro trip and 44.14 UAH for surface municipal transport. The proposed 30 UAH, according to the city authorities, do not cover the actual cost of transportation.

In response to a previous petition, the KCSA noted that the current tariff of 8 UAH has been in effect since 2018. During this time, expenses for electricity, fuel, materials, wages, and infrastructure maintenance have significantly increased, while passenger traffic has substantially decreased.

The city administration also reported that financial plans for 2026 foresee losses for municipal transport enterprises: over 6.7 billion UAH for the "Kyiv Metro" and over 1.8 billion UAH for "Kyivpastrans." In addition, the enterprises face a significant staff shortage and a reduction in budget support.

The previous petition has already been considered

One of the previous petitions, which demanded not to raise tariffs until the end of martial law, was rejected by the KCSA. In its response, the city authorities emphasized that tariff formation must ensure the break-even operation of carriers according to the law, and setting the fare below the economically justified level requires compensation from the city budget. The "Judicial and Legal Newspaper" detailed the KCSA's response.

At the same time, another petition registered on May 20 has already gathered the required 6,000 votes and as of July 10 is under consideration.

The issue of raising tariffs returned after several years of pause

The cost of travel in Kyiv has not been revised since 2018. From January 1, 2022, the authorities planned to raise the tariff to 20 hryvnias, but this decision was not implemented.

At the end of 2021, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko stated that fares would not increase until the end of the heating season. In 2023, the city authorities also assured that tariffs would not be raised until the end of the war.

In September 2025, Klitschko noted that the city would try to avoid raising fares despite the unprofitability of public transport. Now, the KCSA has again returned to the issue of revising tariffs, explaining this by a significant increase in the costs of ensuring the operation of the transport system.

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