Multinational online transportation network Uber Technologies Inc. is to launch in Lviv on Feb. 23, according to the western-Ukrainian city’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi.
Sadovyi announced the news in a Facebook post in response to Bloc of Petro Poroshenko faction lawmaker Petro Adamyk’s request to shut down Russia’s largest online taxi-booking service, Yandex.Taxi, in Lviv. The city, the largest in western Ukraine, is located 540 kilometers from Kyiv.
“The Fiscal Service and State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety grant permits to (transportation) operators,” Sadovyi wrote. “Today I sent them a letter asking for detailed information about the permit (they gave Yandex.Taxi).”
According to him, the operator won’t be able to work properly if nobody uses its services. “Opt for non-Russian products and services,” he said, adding, “There’s Uber to launch on Thursday. It’s up to you. There’s price, quality, and there’s a personal choice.”
Yandex.Taxi rolled out in Lviv on Feb. 17, and the city became the fifth in Ukraine in which the Russian taxi operator operates. The service has been expanding in Ukraine more aggressively than its direct competitor Uber, starting operations first in Kyiv, and then in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and then Odesa.
Uber currently operates only in Kyiv and Odesa.
“Yandex.Taxi started badly in Lviv,” said Sadovyi, saying that the operator illegally set up dozens of ad banners throughout the city.
However, most of the illegal ad have now been taken down, the mayor said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be reached at [email protected].
