Taxi drivers everywhere are known for being able to spin a yarn or two. Kyiv is no exception.
'Once driving at 6 a.m., I was stopped by a young wistful woman going home,' said Oleksandr, who works for a private taxi company.
'I tried to strike a conversation but she remained tight-lipped. Finally, she confessed that she had spent the night with another man and was frightened to tell her husband the truth.'
To save the crest-fallen passenger, Oleksandr rushed to the hospital, found a doctor and made him give the woman a written confirmation that she had gotten sick the previous night and had to be hospitalized.
In Soviet times, the profession of a taxi driver was held in high esteem. There was only one company around in those days, the giant state taxi service. It could be reached by dialing 058 from anywhere in the country and prospered from its monopoly in the market.
In Kyiv alone, some 450 state-owned taxicabs, inundated with up to 3,000 orders daily, worked without stopping, said Svitlana Ligun, who worked for the Soviet state taxi service for more than 30 years and continues to work for its Ukrainian offshoot, Ukravto.
Things have changed drastically since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as Ukraine's economic decline has plunged the state taxi service into poverty. Only 134 state cars now troll the streets of Kyiv, collectively racking up about 800 fares a day. Most of those cars are nondescript, unlabeled Volgas, although Ukravto has updated its fleet recently with several shiny white Volgas and Daewoos, complete with telephone numbers on the door.
The rise of the private taxi industry is at least partially responsible for the state company's demise.
Yes, competition has gripped Kyiv's taxi business and the effect has been stunning. Today, an army of new, Western-looking cabs dispatched from a half-dozen or so private taxi companies stand out among the embattled legion of state Volgas
Avtosvit was the first to enter the market in May 1998, sending 50 newly bought Daewoo-Nexias, painted yellow and specially equipped with meters and portable radios, onto Kyiv's streets. Since then, the company has bought another 200 cars, said Avtosvit's general manager Vyacheslav Shatny.
In June 1998, the second private taxi service, Ukrprominvest, was started with 32 Subarus, and the company now boasts 168 white-blue vehicles.
Radio Taxi, launched two months later, tried to exercise a different approach.
'Radio Taxi serves as a mediator between the client and private taxi drivers,' said Radio Taxi director Ihor Havrylov. 'It offers them information and charges commission for finding them clients.'
Several more private taxi companies have been set up since, but Avtosvit and Ukrprominvest control most of the taxi market in Kyiv along with the state-owned taxi service. That is, if you don't include gypsy cabs.
As anyone residing in the region knows, the easiest and cheapest ride from point to point in the former Soviet Union is via private car. Gypsy cabs, known as grachi in Russian, are everywhere, and few people are afraid of using them.
Most Ukrainians view them as a harmless, even welcome addition to the Kyiv roadscape. But to the professional, registered cabdriver, they are a major headache.
Professional drivers go out of their way to discourage people from using grachis' services.
'The passenger is not aware of the risk he or she is running into when taking a Gypsy cab,' said Oleksandr Bolibruk, who has driven his taxicab for 10 years. 'Unlike taxis, Gypsy cabs do not undergo daily maintenance checks. Many of them may be on their last legs.'
But with most Ukrainians, simple economics wins over common sense. They take gypsy cabs because they are cheaper. A shrewd negotiator can negotiate a five-kilometer ride for Hr 2 to Hr 4 with a gypsy. That same ride costs upwards of Hr 5 in a metered cabs. Cab companies charge flat rates of more than Hr 200 to get to Boryspil airport and back. Grachi usually settle for Hr 50 to Hr 100.
Gypsy cabs are, of course, illegal, but Ukrainian law enforcement does little to enforce the law.
Still, the private taxi business has grown steadily of late and existing companies actively market themselves to try to stay ahead. Ukrprominvest, for example, is planning to introduce special payment cards to simplify the payment procedure. All private cabs prominently display their telephone numbers on their doors. Some, like Radio Taxi, advertise on the radio and try to secure transportation sponsorship for various public events.
Cab companies also put a lot of stake in their drivers. In Soviet times, when service was even less existent than it is today in Ukraine, gruff, snarling, chain-smoking drivers were the norm. Now it's possible to find a polite, non-smoking driver. And cab companies say that matters.
'In spite of the high unemployment level, it is difficult to find a responsible and polite taxi-driver,' said Ukrprominvest Deputy Director Oleksandr Yatsiuk.
Ukravto's Ligun, however, feels nostalgic about the days of yore, when her company was on top and taxi drivers had to dress nicely.
'It was more pleasing to the eye in the past,' she sniffed. 'It is outrageous when some young taxi-drivers put on shorts and go to work these days.'
