The Kyiv City State Administration commented on the consequences of the increase in public transport fares. While medics and activists report the first dismissals due to the unprofitability of commuting from suburbs, the Kyiv City State Administration’s Department of Health shifts responsibility to hospital administrators.
Kyiv City State Administration commented on the consequences of increased public transport fares / © Facebook/Kyivpastrans
The rise in public transport fares in Kyiv from 8 to 30 hryvnias has severely impacted healthcare workers in the capital’s hospitals. Medical professionals and activists are reporting that nurses and orderlies now have to spend substantial amounts of money on their commute from satellite towns. There are also reports of healthcare workers resigning because it is simply not financially viable for them to work solely to afford their commute.
TSN.ua reached out to the Kyiv City State Administration’s Department of Health for clarification. We did not receive answers to our questions regarding whether dismissals are indeed being recorded in Kyiv’s medical institutions due to increased public transport fares, how many employees resigned in July and August, and whether there is a projected trend of further resignations in September.
“The constituent documents of communal non-profit enterprises, which belong to the communal property of the territorial community of the city of Kyiv, stipulate that they are independent legal entities, with their current management carried out by the director,” Tetyana Mostepan, Director of the Kyiv City State Administration’s Department of Health, informed TSN.ua.
Discounted travel passes for medics: what the city hall says
We also did not receive answers to the question of whether the city plans to purchase travel passes for medical workers to somehow reduce their travel expenses, or to organize transportation for employees living outside Kyiv, at least to metro stations. The department only stated that following the implementation of the healthcare system financing reform in Ukraine, communal institutions receive payment for provided medical services according to contracts concluded with the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU).
“At the same time, the city of Kyiv, within the scope of its legal powers, continues to support communal healthcare institutions and regularly provides them with non-reimbursable material assistance, particularly for ensuring proper working conditions and supporting medical staff,” reported Tetyana Mostepan.
The real shock from the new tariffs is expected in mid-September
It was previously noted that individuals with low incomes in Kyiv, who rely heavily on public transport, will be the most affected by the fare increase.
“Until mid-September, many people in Kyiv have the opportunity to use bulk travel passes purchased before the increase at 6.5 UAH. As long as people have these passes, the price hike will not significantly impact the number of validations and passenger traffic in the city. A more accurate analysis of the fare increase’s effects can be conducted after September 15, when these passes are invalidated. Citizens will then be forced to purchase single trips at 30 UAH or bulk passes at 25 UAH,” Oleksandr Hrechko, co-founder of the NGO “Passazhyry Kyyeva” (Kyiv Passengers), explained to TSN.ua.
The expert emphasizes that it will become clear after this date how much passenger traffic in Kyiv has decreased and how citizens are coping with the new prices.
“All of this will hit the wallets of people working in the medical field very hard: doctors, nurses, orderlies. And from September, educators will join them: teachers, lecturers, researchers, librarians. That is, citizens who receive modest incomes but are compelled to use public transport regularly,” says Oleksandr Hrechko.
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