You're reading: Uber to enter Ukrainian market, infrastructure ministry says

Major U.S. international transportation network company Uber will soon start operating in Ukraine, Infrastructure Minstry says.

Deputy Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan wrote it on his Facebook on Dec. 4 after the meeting
between representatives of Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry and Uber.

“We met with company
Uber. Substantial talk and mutual understanding,” Omelyan wrote on his Facebook
profile on Dec. 5. He thinks penetration of Uber’s services will eliminate
possible corruption in taxi business.

The press service of Uber for Russia and CIS countries would not comment on specific date of launching the service in Kyiv. Arkadiy Vershebenyuk, recently appointed head of
Uber Ukraine, likewise would not give any comments to the Kyiv Post till the official launch in Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Minister of Economy and Trade Aivaras
Abromavicius already said that the country needs to have such brands on its
market. “We’re looking forward to Uber in Ukraine,” Abromavicius writes on his
Twitter.”

According to Ukrainian online tech journal AIN.UA, Uber is now arranging
meetings with partners, sponsors and seeking for acquiring bank, which will be
managing payments.

On Dec. 3 Bloomberg
reported Uber was looking for $2.1 billion investment to accelerate its race and
expand globally.

Initially named UberCab headquartered in San Francisco, Uber
was launched in 2009. The company develops and operates the Uber mobile app,
which allows consumers with smartphones to submit a trip request which is then
routed to Uber drivers who use their own cars.

In majority of countries 80 percent payments goes to drivers
and 20 percent – to the company. That causes the low price of the service and
raises its popularity. By late May the company was estimated to be worth $62.5
billion. The service is now available in 58 countries and 300 cities worldwide.

Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be reached at [email protected]. The
Kyiv Post’s IT coverage is sponsored by
Looksery, Ciklum, Steltec
Capital
and SoftServe.
The content is independent of the donors.