Car Rental in Ukraine.
To rent or not to rent a car in Ukraine?

Car rental in Ukraine. Before you rent a car for your journey let's try to understand what you should expect. A little bit of Ukrainian history to begin with.

Compared with Europeans or Americans, relatively few Ukrainians have private vehicles. Why? It is simple. During the Soviet regime even the least expensive car cost 50 times more than the average monthly salary of a Soviet worker.

Number of cars produced in the Soviet Union was very small. Even those people who had money, had to wait few years for the opportunity to buy a car. What is the result? We have a very well developed system of public transportation in Ukraine.

How does it relate to car rental in Ukraine? Till recent times there wasn't high demand for car rental in Ukraine. Economics is a stubborn thing. If there is no demand, there won't be any supply. Why bother?

Fortunately things are changing nowadays. The number of cars in Ukraine is rapidly increasing. To rent a car in Ukraine gradually becoming more common thing. But … we have a problem here. Car rental prices are not very competitive in Ukraine yet. It doesn't sound good for customers. Ukraine's car rental rates are among the highest in the world.

To Rent a Car. Regulations and Documentation.

Regulations:

• Speed limits are 60kph (37mph) in built-up areas, 90kph (55mph) in outside areas and 130kph (80mph) on the motorways.
• Traffic drives on the right. Right-hand-drive cars are prohibited.
• Drinking and driving is strictly prohibited. The limit of alcohol allowed in drivers' blood is zero. Heavy fines are imposed if traffic police smell alcohol on a driver's breath.

Documentation: An International Driving Permit is required to drive in Ukraine.

Are you sure you need to rent a car? OK, let's try to save your money.

Car rental in Ukraine. Rental Tips.

How can you save?

• Don't book the first car rental offer you see. Do your homework. Spend some time shopping for the best price.
• Try to travel in the off-season. Statistics shows that this way you can save about 20 percent by traveling in May or September instead of June, July, or August.
• Car rental in Ukraine usually is more expensive at the airports. Always check the "downtown" rates for a possibly better deal. By picking a car up downtown, you can often avoid hefty airport surcharges.
• The low rate you see advertised as a rule is the "basic rate". Be sure that the "final rate" includes taxes, insurance and gasoline charge, drop-off charges, etc.
• Car rental in Ukraine is usually cheaper if you rent from local companies, particular auto dealers. Most likely you will find better service for the higher price at the major rental companies such as "Hertz", "Avis", and "Europcar".
• You can save the price of day's rental if you only need to drive from the airport to a hotel for the night. Take a shuttle bus the first day you arrived instead.
• One more possibility to save money. You can consider negotiating with a local car owner to drive you around. If he speaks your native language, it is an excellent opportunity to see the places, which a regular tourist will never see. I will add information about the local drivers as soon as I have it available.
• Booking a car with manual transmission is typically less expensive than automatics. You can cut your rental costs by going down to an "economy" car class. But you have to remember that they are smaller and underpowered for extended driving.

Here is a list of rental companies to help you start with. Hope you will find the best rates for car rental in Ukraine. (Some web sites are in Russian only.)

A Street "Car".
Car rental in Ukraine.
Source: http:/karaul/ru

• "Avis"
• "Europcar"
• "Hertz "