Exactly a year after it launched its first service in Ukraine, United States tech transportation company Uber on July 4 announced it is to open Uber’s regional office here.
The rapid growth of Uber in Ukraine inspired the company to open its headquarters in the country, according to Alexei Stakh, the general manager for the CIS at Uber. The office will oversee the company’s operations in Belarus, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and will be staffed by at least 50 people.
The office is still under construction, but is already partially operating, employing 20 staff, says Stakh.
“Our services have been growing very fast in Ukraine. Our European management was surprised about that,” Stakh said. He also said Uber is planning to launch its services in three more Ukrainian cities: Zaporizhzhya, Kryviy Rih, and Mykolaiv.
Currently, the service works in five cities: Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro.
UberBlack launch
Uber also announced at its July 4 press conference that it had now launched in Ukraine its premium service, UberBlack, giving its users a VIP option in addition to the economy UberX service and the higher-class UberSelect services already available on the Ukrainian market.
The services differ in terms of the age and quality of cars, and hence the price of a ride.
UberBlack charges $3 for pick up by the car, and then 40 cents per kilometer, and Hr 1 per minute of driving. The minimum payment for the premium service in Ukraine is $5.
UberBlack users can expect cars such as the BMW x5, Toyota Land Cruise, Toyota Camry XV07, Audi A6, or Mercedes E-class.
CIS general manager Stakh also said Uber wants to roll out its food delivery service UberEats in Ukraine. However, UberPool, the company’s ride-sharing service, is not ready for the mass launch.
Old cars allowed
Since launching in Ukraine last year, Uber has lowered the production date of car models that can be used by UberX drivers to 2001. Initially, only drivers with cars produced after 2008 were allowed to work for Uber.
But soon after the launch in June, when many users complained that too few cars were available, the company lowered the production date bar, while still demanding that the car be in good condition.
“Demand has grown so much that we had to allow (older) cars,” Stakh said, adding that Ukrainians have downloaded the Uber app more than 1 million times since last year. “That’s why we let lots of cars in.”
If people are not satisfied with the quality of the car, they can use UberSelect and UberBlack now, said Stakh.
Road accident
“The responsibility (for accidents) lies with the driver,” said Stakh, when asked during the press conference about a recent road accident in Kyiv on June 27 that was the fault of an Uber driver and resulted in severe injuries to Uber user Tatyana Zacerkovnaya.
After this accident, Zacerkovnaya said that Uber would not cover anything and they could only help write a statement to the police.
“The most insulting thing is that I liked the service and constantly used it,” said Zacerkovnaya. “It’s a pity they don’t care about their customers.”
Stakh insisted that Uber is just a service that connects a driver and a rider, and has no responsibilities for road accidents. The only thing that Uber can ensure, according to him, is that a driver has proper insurance.
“(A driver) can’t be our partner if they don’t have (insurance),” he said. “We cease any (business) relationships with a person that breaks the law.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be reached at [email protected].
