Olena Tlakich and Adam Novak
On 16 July 2026, a public hearing convened by the Hromadska rada (Civic Advisory Council) attached to the Kyiv City State Administration (KMDA) voted to call on Mayor Vitaliy Klychko to cancel a near-fourfold increase in the base public transport fare. The hearing took place against a backdrop of a simultaneous protest outside the City Administration building, and came two days after a first demonstration organised by Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement) and allied organisations. The hearing’s main speaker, Vitaliy Dudin of Sotsialnyi Rukh, argued that a monthly transport pass at the new rate — equivalent to EUR 72 — would consume 42% of the Ukrainian statutory minimum wage. Dudin placed the dispute in the context of wartime hardship: over fifty people died in Kyiv during the first week of July 2026 alone, he noted, and increasing the financial burden on residents already living under repeated bombardment was, in his words, “knocking the last social resilience out of people.” The City Administration economics department defended the tariff, arguing that the full cost-recovery fare would be EUR 1.25. [Adam Novak]
Public hearing calls for fare reversal
On 16 July 2026, public hearings were held in Kyiv on the sharp increase in public transport fares — from UAH 8 (EUR 0.16) to UAH 30 (EUR 0.59) per single journey. [1] Simultaneously, a protest action against the new tariff continued outside the City Administration building.
Following the hearing, the Hromadska rada (Civic Advisory Council) attached to the City Administration endorsed an appeal to Mayor Vitaliy Klychko demanding cancellation of the fare-increase order, restoration of the UAH 8 fare, and the convening of a new public consultation within the statutory maximum period of three months.
Vitaliy Dudin, an activist of the civic organisation Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement — SR), [2] reported on the proceedings to SOCPORTAL.INFO.
Dudin: “The city lives from bombardment to bombardment”
Speaking at the City Administration hearing, Dudin argued that the current economic and security situation made it unacceptable to impose additional financial burdens on residents of the capital:
The first week of July 2026 alone claimed the lives of more than fifty people. This shows that the city lives from bombardment to bombardment. In such a period, it was impermissible to knock the last social resilience out of people. I call on everyone to make reasonable decisions and to adopt tariffs that take into account not only economic indicators but are also socially justified. And I want to hear what the authorities are prepared to do to prevent conflicts and social tension.
Dudin also challenged the tariff on income grounds. Comparing Ukraine with neighbouring states, he argued that the proposed rate was disproportionate relative to workers’ earnings: [3]
We analysed the practice of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Moldova. In these countries, the cost of a monthly travel pass amounts to just 2–4% of the minimum wage. In Ukraine, a monthly pass at EUR 72 will absorb approximately 42% of the statutory minimum wage.
He further criticised the City Administration’s justification for the increase, which cited average wages in Kyiv having risen to UAH 50,000 (EUR 975) per month:
At Kyivpastrans and Kyiv Metro, wages are considerably lower than the UAH 50,000 written on paper. Moreover, Ministerial Order No. 940 of the Ministry of Infrastructure on tariff formation requires that the statutory minimum wage — not some imaginary average Kyiv wage — be taken as the reference. Please come down to earth and heed what is written in the legislation. [4]
Other voices at the hearing
Also speaking at the hearing were Natalia Zemlianska, chair of the board of the Ukrainian Compulsory State Social Insurance Fund for Unemployment, who addressed the situation of the unemployed, and a representative of young people who drew attention to the consequences of the fare increase for students and schoolchildren.
Ukraine’s unemployment rate currently stands at 11.6%, with poverty estimated at approximately 30% of the population, according to figures cited by activists at the hearing.
City Administration: full cost-recovery fare is UAH 64
The City Administration economics department representative, Iryna Boyko, defended the new tariff, stating that the economically justified cost-recovery fare is approximately UAH 64 (EUR 1.25), making the UAH 30 tariff a subsidised rate. She also maintained that the public consultation process had run for a sufficient period.
Activists present said they nonetheless succeeded in conveying their position on the socially indefensible nature of the new tariff, emphasising that the increase fails to account for Ukraine’s low minimum wage, an unemployment rate of 11.6%, and a poverty rate they estimate at 30%.
Following the debate, the Council voted to appeal to Mayor Klychko to cancel the increase and restore the UAH 8 fare.
The heads of the two Kyiv municipal transport enterprises — KP Kyivpastrans and KP Kyiv Metro — did not attend the hearing. Mayor Klychko was also absent. [5]
As of the evening of 16 July 2026, the protest action outside the City Administration building against the fare increase was continuing.
Olena Tkalich is a journalist at SOCPORTAL.INFO writing on social policy. She covers women’s rights, disability rights, maternity in the contemporary context, healthcare reform, education, and social protection.
P.S. Source: Olena Tkalich, “Громадська рада при КМДА закликала скасувати підвищення вартості проїзду до 30 грн”, SOCPORTAL.INFO, 16 July 2026. Available at: https://socportal.info/ua/news/gromadska-rada-pri-kmda-zaklikala-skasuvati-pidvishchennya-vartosti-proizdu-do-30-grn/ Translated with notes for ESSF by Adam Novak. Footnotes [1] The Kyiv City State Administration (Kyivska Miska Derzhavna Administratsiya, KMDA) is the executive body of the Kyiv municipal government, headed by the mayor. Vitaliy Klychko (Vitali Klitschko), former professional boxer, has served as mayor of Kyiv since 2014. [2] Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement) is a Ukrainian democratic socialist organisation founded in May 2015. It advocates democratic socialism, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, and socialist feminism. It operates across Ukraine’s major cities and has close links to the Fourth International. See: Sotsialnyi Rukh, “Introducing Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement)”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, March 2019. Available at: https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article61539 [3] On the social and economic consequences of wartime austerity in Ukraine and the labour movement’s response, see: Vitaliy Dudin (interviewed by Mariia Sokolova), “Trade Unions, Deregulation, and Social Dialogue”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, 1 April 2025. Available at: https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article72639 [4] On neoliberal fiscal policy and wartime social pressures in Ukraine, see: Vitaliy Dudin, “Ukraine’s New Cabinet: Neoliberal Reforms Threaten Wartime Solidarity”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, 21 July 2025. Available at: https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article75720 [5] For background on the 14 July 2026 protest outside the City Administration building that preceded these hearings, organised by Sotsialnyi Rukh, Pryama Diya (Direct Action) student union, and the Kyiv Passengers civic group, see: Olena Tkalich, “’Transport Is Not a Privilege!’: Kyiv Residents Protest Fare Rise”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, 14 July 2026. Available at: https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article79393
On June 11, 2026, a protest was held in front of Kiev City Hall against the municipal authorities’ plans to quadruple public transportation fares in the Ukrainian capital.
By the Ukrainian Socialist League (LSU)
The protest was organized by the group “Social Movement.” This initiative received active support from the Kyiv branch of the Ukrainian Socialist League, as well as from various grassroots student and labor union groups, the “Narodovladya” party, and several subway workers. About 70 people participated in the protest, which proved to be a significant event for uniting left-wing forces in the social struggle for the rights of Kyiv’s citizens.
According to the plans of the authorities in Kyiv, the fares scheduled for 2026 are as follows: 64.60 hryvnias for the metro; 44.14 hryvnias for ground transportation (trams, trolleybuses, buses, and funiculars).
By way of comparison, the current fare is 8 hryvnias per trip. This means that metro fares are expected to increase eightfold and bus fares by more than 5.5 times compared to current levels.
Shortly before the protest began, authorities in Kyiv rejected a petition demanding that public transportation fares not be raised, at least during the war. Officials made it clear that they care little about the opinions of Kyiv residents. They are not concerned that healthcare professionals, teachers, public service workers, and thousands of ordinary Kyiv workers are being forced to count every hryvnia. They are indifferent to the fact that the daily commute to work is becoming significantly more expensive for many, leading to more voluntary resignations.
The main demand of the protest was the immediate imposition of a moratorium on the review of public transportation fares in Kyiv during the war.
The activists emphasized that the fare increase would hit the capital’s poorest residents the hardest and, citing Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, Valletta, Dunkirk, and Tallinn as examples, demonstrated that even free public transportation is possible without straining the municipal budget. Subway workers also joined the protest, supporting it on the grounds that their wages would not increase but would instead lose value due to the spike in inflation resulting from the fare hike. Oleh Simoroz, an activist with the People’s Land Party and a disabled war veteran, delivered a keynote speech.
Our comrade Tyler Shchur (video) spoke on behalf of the Ukrainian Socialist League, denouncing the attempts by the authorities in Kyiv to shift the blame for the city’s serious financial problems, linked to unprecedented corruption and the embezzlement of municipal funds, as well as the massive destruction caused by Russian missile strikes on civilian neighborhoods, onto workers and young people.
Our comrade called for mass resistance and mobilization within the resistance movement. The protesters’ demands were conveyed to representatives of the Kyiv City Administration. We can confidently state that the protest had a significant impact in terms of public awareness and propaganda. In times of war, mass street protests are banned in Ukraine, but the authorities were forced to refrain from dispersing this protest due to the urgency and relevance of its issues to the residents of Kyiv. We managed to distribute several hundred leaflets from our organization, the Social Movement, and from related initiatives.
The struggle continues! We are delighted to see our bonds of solidarity with the Social Movement and other grassroots social initiatives growing stronger. We are convinced that this protest must be the prelude to significant changes in the structure of the entire leftist movement in Kyiv and Ukraine.