Ukraine may be stuck with winter time for good.
The Ukrainian parliament on March 3 passed a bill in the first reading to cancel the practice of changing the clock twice a year.
If the parliament passes the bill in the second reading by March 25, Ukraine will forever stay in the UTC +2 time zone, Ukraine’s winter time, that lasts from Oct. 25 to March 25.
Japan, India, and China are the only major industrialized countries that do not change the clock. Russia and Belarus don’t change it either.
Changing from summer time to winter time every six months has a negative effect on human health, according to author of the bill Ruslan Stefanchuk, parliament’s first deputy chairman.
Besides, opposed to the public opinion and to its main purpose, he said, the practice does not help to save energy, which was the main argument to introduce it in Soviet Ukraine back in 1981.
Summer time in Kyiv corresponds with the UTC +3 time zone which means that half of the year Kyiv uses the same time zone as Moscow and Minsk. According to Stefanchuk, a separate time zone will also protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
If the parliament doesn’t manage to vote on it before March 25, the bill may be adopted later to implement the changes in March 2022. This means that the time will be changed for the last time on Oct. 25, 2021.
Some people liked it, some didn’t.
“I support this proposal,” wrote a Facebook user nicknamed Lyudmila Arhipovich under a story by news website Ukrainska Pravda. “I just can’t understand how a single time zone can strengthen Ukraine’s security and foster reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories (in eastern Ukraine).”
Facebook user An Zhuliak seems to be against the change, as in eastern Ukraine, the sun will be rising as early as at 3 a.m. “Thank you, thank you very much,” Zhuliak wrote ironically.
Facebook user Vladyslav Lisovyi suggests sticking to summer time, instead. “Not because of Moscow or Warsaw, but because this time is more convenient for Ukrainians,” he wrote.
Overall, health experts agree with the fact that changing the clock is bad for people’s health because, every time the time is changed, people’s biorhythms have to adapt. Average sleep duration shrinks by 15 to 20 minutes for adults during daylight saving time transitions.
The European Union still changes the clock. Its summer time begins on March 28. Clocks will be set 1 hour forward at 2 a.m.
EU countries also want to keep winter time, but the block first needs to get the approval of all its member states. Which time to choose permanently, summer or winter, depends on the geographical location. While winter time is more favorable in western Europe, summer time is better in eastern Europe.
The Ukrainian government already wanted to change to winter time in 2011, but the move was canceled due to a wave of criticism.
