What happened?

April 5 in Kyiv became the first day of another strict lockdown, which the city authorities announced earlier, on March 31. As part of the lockdown, the use of public transport was limited, and the residents of Kyiv had to use minibusses, buses, trolleybuses, and the subway only if they had special pass-tickets issued to critical infrastructure workers. Overall, around 500,000 pass-tickets were issued in the city with a population of almost 3 million people.

“And, of course, Kyiv cab services immediately took advantage of this,” says Khmelnitskyy.

Indeed, in the conditions when the use of public transport was restricted, the residents of Kyiv, who didn’t have a car, were forced to travel around the city by cab. That resulted in incredible demand and, thus, made the prices of popular services skyrocket. In some areas, for an Uber or Bolt ride from the Left Bank to the Right Bank, a tariff over UAH 1,000 (approx. $35) was fixed. Facebook users also actively discussed this phenomenon and were indignant at it.

Taras Potichny, a ride-hailing market expert, told AIN.UA why this had happened. He assured that it was not the greedy cab services that were to blame but the pricing algorithms. He also added that the market would soon stabilize. Indeed, the very next day, when the tide of interest subsided, ride-hailing service prices stabilized and returned to the pre-quarantine ones.

However, officials came in on this situation.

And what about the AMCU?

According to Khmelnitskyy, the AMCU received a lot of complaints from the residents of Kyiv about a sharp spike in prices. They were particularly indignant at Uber, Bolt, and Uklon.

“We cannot ignore so many complaints. Moreover, the situation may indicate possible violations in the actions of ride-hailing services covered by Part 3 of Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Economic Competition” (concerted anticompetitive actions of business entities) and/or Part 1 of Article 13 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Economic Competition” (abuse of a monopoly (dominant) position),” writes the chairman of the Kyiv territorial branch of the AMCU.

In this regard, the Kyiv regional territorial branch of the AMCU launched an investigation as to compliance with the legislation by the participants of the car-hailing market (as well as companies that provide services in these markets).

In the comments to this post, users note that cab prices from the mentioned companies have already returned to normal, and the sharp spike, which the AMCU regarded as a malicious attempt to capitalize on the coronavirus situation, is a completely normal reaction of the market to the phenomenal demand. However, some praised the initiative of the officials and spoke in favor of taxi price regulation by the government.

Why this is interesting: Probably, the AMCU wants to know how the algorithms of international and Ukrainian services work and to study the laws of the market economy when demand exceeds supply exponentially.

• DiDi started to gather a team to launch the service in Ukraine back in 2020.
• At the moment, there is no specific date, but DiDi will launch in Ukraine in 2021.
• DiDi will become the fourth big service in Ukraine, following Uklon, Uber (DiDi has a stake in this company), and Bolt.
• The entry of a player of DiDi’s level will have a strong impact on the Ukrainian market of cab aggregators, especially on drivers whose number is limited. The launch of the service will obviously create additional demand for drivers, and they will receive bonuses for that.
• So far, it is unknown whether DiDi will enter only with cabs or include other services, like bike rentals.

DiDi is a Chinese aggregator offering a full range of app-based services for over 550 million users. The company has raised more than $21 billion since its founding in 2012. According to the latest available data, its valuation exceeds $56 billion.

In 2020, DiDi launched in Russia and further plans to enter the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as post-Soviet countries, including the launch in Ukraine.

The editorial team of AIN.UA sent a request to the company for details but did not receive an answer at the time of publishing.

According to Uber, Pool Chance matches passengers heading in the same direction, so they can share the ride and cost. You can request Pool Chance for a maximum of 2 people, and the cost for each passenger will be cheaper than the price of UberX.

To share the ride, choose the Pool Chance ride option in the Uber app menu. It is noteworthy that if you can’t find another passenger, the cost of the ride will be the usual UberX price.

Moreover, using the Pool Chance service, passengers will be able to get up to 30% of cashback. The percentage and the exact amount of cashback are dynamic. Savings will be added to passengers’ wallets as UberCash after the ride: these funds can then be used to pay for future rides.

It is reported that Kyiv will be the first city where the Pool Chance service will be launched.

“Since people in our city are very open to innovative services in the field of mobility, Kyiv has repeatedly been among the first cities where we launched such new services as Uber Green or Uber Shuttle. That’s why we also chose Kyiv as one of the first cities in the world where Pool Chance will be available,” commented Georgii Sokolianskyi, Head of Growth, Central and Eastern Europe at Uber.

Uber in Ukraine did not provide comments for this article.

The order came from above

Nobody knew that Uber Eats would be closed in Ukraine. On April 14, the food delivery service was launched in Dnipro, and the management was preparing to launch in several other Ukrainian cities this year alone.

On May 4, the company’s partners in Ukraine – cafes and restaurants – began to receive messages that Uber Eats will stop working in the country on June 3. Later, users of the service started to receive the same messages.

“In this company, they do everything without ceremony,” says one of AIN.UA’s interviewees who wished to remain anonymous. “Nobody warned anyone. The local management knew nothing. Everything was prepared and done at the global office level. Ordinary employees found out that the company was closing 5 minutes before sending the newsletter to partners. At one point, they blocked computers, accounts, mail. And they fired everyone.”

According to AIN.UA, neither partners, nor agents, nor customers/users had been warned in advance. Everyone found out about the closure of the service at the same time.

The country still has the team responsible for Uber and Uber Shuttle, although the operations have been controlled for several years from Warsaw, where the region’s central office is located.

Weak performance

In addition to Ukraine, Uber has shut down the food delivery service in 6 other countries: Romania, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, and Honduras. Uber will redirect resources from these countries to other, more preferred markets. The company makes no secret of this.

In other words, Uber Eats in Ukraine did not manage to reach the indicators that would make the management of the IPO company continue investing resources in the development of the service. 

This is not the first such story for Uber: previously the service left, for example, from China and Russia, losing to stronger local players. 

In Ukraine, Glovo became such a strong player in the delivery market. It started earlier, receiving the benefit of the doubt from users, while the launch of Uber Eats took place after a series of delays. In addition, it provided its customers with a wider range of services: delivery from pharmacies, supermarkets, courier services, and not just restaurants and cafes. The international company Uber in Ukraine failed to beat the Glovo startup.

What went wrong

Besides the fact that Glovo started earlier, the service had another undeniable advantage – McDonald’s. According to a source from the food delivery market, only this chain of restaurants can generate from 60 to 80 percent of all orders:

“Look at the cities where Glovo was launched in Ukraine — almost every city has McDonald’s restaurants. This allows them to enter a new city and hire couriers for a single restaurant chain. But it is the coolest and generates the most leads.”

Uber Eats failed to close a deal with McDonald’s, despite almost a year of negotiations. As a result, the service was left without a major source of orders. 

Another fact is the almost complete lack of marketing, while competitors actively advertised, launched promotions, and ad campaigns. 

Besides, no one expected that Raketa, a local player, would play so hard against Uber Eats. Despite all the capabilities of Uber, in just a few months, “Raketa took off” and pushed Uber Eats from the second place: now it is Glovo and Raketa that are leading the market. What helped achieve that was also free delivery (which is no longer available) and a wider range of restaurants. 

The quarantine also made things worse for Uber Eats. The volume of deliveries, according to AIN.UA, grew only slightly: people began to order more products from Glovo and Zakaz.ua, while Uber’s food delivery service could not offer this. 

There’s still a lucrative slice of pie

Local players do not disclose their performance indicators. According to AIN.UA, by the end of 2020, the volume of orders in Ukraine may amount to 1 million units per month. The average bill is about UAH 300. As a result, this is a market of more than 3.5 billion hryvnias. Uber will no longer fight for it. 

Uber stays in Ukraine and will continue to engage in passenger transportation services Uber and Uber Shuttle. The company does not indicate whether the company’s global redundancy policy will affect the Ukrainian office, but according to AIN.UA, no major changes are expected in the local office. 

Closing the service will not affect the company’s ridesharing application: Uber will continue to operate in Ukraine.

“We are sad that Uber Eats will no longer be available in Ukraine, however, our ridesharing service will continue to operate, as before,” the company said.

Currently, our priority is to minimize the consequences of closing down the service for our employees, restaurants, couriers, partners, and users.”

Uber Eats is a food delivery platform created by Uber. The service was launched under its current name back in 2015 and currently operates in dozens of cities across Europe, Asia, North and South America. In Ukraine, the service was launched on February 6, 2018, and today it is represented in 6 cities of the country.

Reasons for closing down Uber Eats in Ukraine

According to the information that the company provided to AIN.UA, the decision to terminate the service in our country was made based on the business performance indicators of Uber Eats in the food delivery market. “As a global player, we must reasonably assess the relevance of the product to the market and how we distribute resources globally,” the company’s commentary reads.

The resources saved as a result of the closure of the service in Ukraine will be redirected to other markets in Europe and around the world, where Uber Eats is growing faster.

“Our main priority now is to do everything possible to minimize the impact on our employees, partner restaurants, delivery partners, and consumers who supported us,” the company emphasized.

The message to partners reads that couriers who have made at least one delivery from April 1 to 30 will receive compensation payments. The amount and payment procedure have not been detailed.

Partners will also be able to receive compensation for special clothing bearing Uber Eats logo that they purchased for their couriers. At the same time, Uber reserves the right to collect money that partners could owe to the company and its affiliates.

Will they terminate Uber in Ukraine too?

No, the Uber taxi application in Ukraine will continue to operate normally. Moreover, the service will continue to develop, investing in new programs.

“For example, we have recently launched the Uber Pro loyalty program, which offers drivers in Ukraine a wide range of benefits. We will continue to expand this program with additional offers in the coming months,” Uber says.

Besides, the company provides doctors with free trips with Uber Shuttle during the quarantine, and supplies masks and disinfectants to its drivers.

• Kharkiv will become the fourth city in Ukraine, where the service was launched. Uber Eats also operates in Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa.
• You can read about Uber Eats and how it works here.
• You can become a courier by clicking on the website of UberDRIVE partner.
• Information on how much you can earn working as a courier at Uber Eats is available in our previous article

The main competitor of Uber Eats – Glovo – has been working in Kharkiv since March 2019. In total, Glovo operates across 14 cities in Ukraine.

• This is the third city in Ukraine, where the service is currently operating. Uber Eats also operates in Kyiv and Lviv.
• You can register as a courier in Odesa by clicking here.
• The income can be about 850 UAH per day.
• For some time, the service will work only in the central districts of the city. Later the coverage area will be extended.

Uber Eats is a food delivery platform created by Uber. Under the current name, the service was launched in 2015 and currently operates in dozens of cities in Europe, Asia, North, and South America. The service was launched in Ukraine on February 6, 2018.

The main competitor of Uber Eats – Glovo service – has been working in Odesa since April this year. In total, Glovo operates in 11 cities in Ukraine.

In the beginning, the service area will include the historical part of the city, as well as the central and adjacent streets.

• Lviv is the second city after Kyiv to welcome Uber Eats.
• You can become a courier by clicking here. Information on how much you can earn working as a courier at Uber Eats is available in our previous article.

The main competitor of Uber Eats – Glovo – has been working in Lviv since April of the current year. In total, Glovo operates across 11 cities in Ukraine.

The presentation of the service was attended by the mayor of the city Vitali Klitschko and former Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan. They promised that the parties would resolve any and all regulatory issues.

The journalist of the social movement “CHESNO” Iryna Latysh in the article for Ekonomichna pravda checked the work of the service for compliance with all legal and labor standards. AIN.UA briefly explains what violations were revealed.

What was revealed – in a nutshell:

1. The van parked at a pedestrian crossing.
2. After the van was stopped by the police, it turned out that the driver did not have the necessary driving category.
3. Drivers work 10-14 hours a day.
4. Uber Shuttle itself does not have proper transportation licenses.

Violation of traffic rules and problems with drivers

After inquiries to the Department of Transport Infrastructure of the Kyiv City State Administration, the journalist and operator of “CHESNO” were invited to an experiment to verify Uber Shuttle.

According to the author of the material, Irina Latysh, it was initially agreed that Ukrtransbezpeka and the police would take part in the audit. But representatives of the regulator did not show up. Without it, law enforcement officers could not stop the minibus on their own.

Everything happened by chance. The operator of “CHESNO” made an order through the Uber application, and one of the shuttles took him from a pedestrian crossing. This allowed the police to stop the car to issue a fine.

During the inspection, it turned out that the driver did not have a category D driving license (transportation of passengers in minibusses up to 16 people). The driver also did not have any permits as well as a passport of the route that all carriers in Kyiv are obliged to have on them.

“CHESNO” also found advertisements for recruiting new drivers at Uber Shuttle. The information indicated in them goes in violation of labor standards: they offer work from 10 to 14 hours a day or from 50 to 70 hours a week. According to the Labor Code of Ukraine, drivers cannot work more than 40 hours a week.

On this screenshot, Vitalii Primak warns, “Be careful! Uber Shuttle’s work schedule is 5/2 from 7 am to 9 pm.” He confirms his words by a screenshot with a comment from Uberlin, an international partner of Uber. It says, “We offer a job of a driver with category D driving license to work on our buses. Work schedule: Monday-Friday from 7 am to 9 pm, salary 20,000 UAH/month. For more information, please call 7373.”

Issues with licenses

The definition of a regular passenger route is spelled out in the Law of Ukraine “On Road Transport”. To comply with it, Uber Shuttle needs to do the following:

1. Win a competition held by the Kyiv City State Administration for the announced route.
2. Conclude an agreement with the organizer of transportation.
3. Add cars to the Ukrtranssecurity database.
4. Approve the passport of the route with the patrol police.

Checks conducted by “CHESNO” revealed that none of the items have yet been complied with. Official replies about Uber Shuttle’s lack of licenses were provided by the transport department of the Kyiv City State Administration and Ukrtransbezpeka.

The city council also confirmed that the transport, communication and advertising committee have not yet discussed the issue of legalizing the service.

Company’s take

Uber representatives did not respond to a request made by journalists. The editors of AIN.UA also sent a request to the company, but there was no response at the time of publication of this article.

The situation was commented by Heorhii Sokoliansky, Head of Uber Development in Central and Eastern Europe.

First of all, every vehicle operating with Uber Shuttle has a bus license. According to Ukrainian law, bus licenses are issued to fleet operators, not Uber.

To ensure the safety and legality of the service, Uber checks the availability of a license, as a mandatory requirement for each vehicle to enter the route. We use a state-owned online database in which any interested person can check a specific Uber Shuttle bus by the license plate.

According to him, Uber makes sure that all drivers have a category D driving license. He also added the following:

Being a technology platform, Uber does not hire drivers and does not control their working hours. But for safety reasons, we limit the driver’s daily hours to 12. Thus, each driver has at least a two-hour rest break.

Sokoliansky also commented on the lack of licenses:

Since the launch of the service, we have been working closely with government and local authorities to determine the role of Uber in ensuring that bus carriers comply with all regulatory requirements, despite the innovative characteristics of the service, the specifics of which are not reflected in the current regulation, such as dynamic bus routing based on GPS.

It is possible to order a car using the Uber app by selecting Green when choosing the destination. As for now, there are 200 cars of Uber Green in Kyiv, of which Nissan Leaf represents the majority (although there are no restrictions with regard to car models). Zoe, Hyundai Ioniq, Tesla S, BMW i3, Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Bolt may also be introduced in the future.

The price of a ride is similar to the price of UberSelect premium service: base fare is 30 UAH (1.3 UAH per minute and 4.6 per km UAH). The minimum fare is 55 UAH. For example, a ride from the airport to the city center will cost about 300 UAH.

On the occasion of the launch of the service, Uber Eats offers free delivery of an unlimited number of orders until the end of February with the promotional code HELLOKYIV. Uber Eats delivery cost without the promo code is 30 UAH, regardless of the size of an order. Food prices are set by restaurants.  Restaurants that want to work with the service can sign up on the official website.

At first, delivery may take longer, but the goal of the service is to deliver food around the city within 35 minutes. In Kyiv, the service already cooperates with 200 restaurants, including Mimosa Brooklyn Pizza, Milk Bar, Musafir, Gogi, ORANG+UTAN and Bistro Bistro.

Initially, the service will be available from 10.00 a.m. till 10.00 p.m. in the center of Kyiv and partially in the surrounding districts of the city, such as Shevchenkivskyi, Podolskyi, Pecherskyi, and Solomianskyi. Orders can be planned in advance: for the period from an hour to a week. Real-time delivery monitoring is also available in the application.

Uber Eats is a food delivery service from restaurants and cafes. To make an order, you have to download the application on your mobile device, and sing in with your Uber account.

You can apply on the website of Uber Drive partner to become a courier of the company. The company also offers a bicycle rental service, saying that it is one of the most popular ways to deliver orders in other countries.

CB Insights has published a large report of the financial condition of the global company Uber. According to this article, only the food delivery service brings $1.5 billion of revenue, which is about 15% of all income of the company. Now Uber Eats is the most profitable direction in Uber, and the company is actively developing it.

The first information about the launching of food delivery service from Uber in Ukraine appeared in early 2018.

Uber Eats is a food delivery service from restaurants and cafes. To place an order, you will need to download a separate application of the same name, however, the same account can be used as the one for ordering Uber cars.

The launch will be gradual, at first only in the central part of Kyiv. At the start, they promise to connect more than 100 restaurants to the service.

Not so long ago, the service received a manager, Anton Shulyk. Meanwhile, the couriers are being recruited. There will be several options of transportation: by motorcycle / bicycle, as well as by car. Income will vary from 11,000 to 25,000 UAH/month.