Driving in Ukraine - how bad is the traffic police?

From a local maybe 10 - 20 UAH
from a foreigner they will try probably $100 or so, never ever agree with that
If you are going to pay them a bribe don't offer anymore then 50 UAH (so you won't ruin the bribing market for other foreigners)

And what should I do if they say 100USD, don't make a lower offer and say that if I do not pay they are going to keep my driving license and car document? (that was what happened to me in Azerbaijan -they lowered it to the half, but it was still 60USD-)

I would advise.
- Do not leave the car.
- Do not be nervous.
They would not take out driver licence, but they can due to convention. BUT in fact most of their actions are a bluff.
if they say 100$ you can say 50UAH, but you should have 50UAH in a pocket. But the best is just wait. Police can chew time, You can walk out and do smth., but don't pay attention to police.

Edited by: bizcom777

But they can get in their car say something like 'in 2 weeks you go to our office in TownX and get your papers back after paying the fine in bank Y' and then go away.
That is what I was afraid about and the reason I paid in Azerbaijan.

I told them that I would phone the embassy, but this didn't make them worried at all.

The reason to lower the 'fine' was that I nearly started crying.

After that I told them that I would go out of Azerbaijan as quickly as possible because foreigners are treated very badly in their country. Their answer: do what you want.
I left the country the next day.

BTW, the convention explicitly forbids taking away foreign driving licenses and car registration documents.

I don't mean to be critical becuase everyone of us is different, but the way you dealt with the situation in Azerbaijan was totally wrong.

You need to show strength of character in this situation and wait out the Police. The first question you need to ask politely is the ID of the Police Officer or have a pen ready to note his details. This way he will know you mean business and after a while (maybe 10 minutes - maybe 20 minutes) they will get bored with what they are doing and let you move on. Don't pay anything becuase this makes it worse for all travellers!

Actually I started nearly (I was not able to) crying because I have read on a web site that if you start crying sometimes the officer does not write you the ticket. But this was an American site. Azerbaijan seems to be a little different.
You are right, I did what you posted a few years ago (another invented 'offence')(in Serbia) and didn't get a fine, but they had not taken away my car documents and driving license.

Please tell me would you have done if they were threatening you to take away this two documents?
I know that by law they are not allowed to do this, but they weren't exactly following the law in this case (they could just take the documents and throw them away if I didn't pay).
Another interesting point: they immediately informed their boss that they got 50 manat by the radio(they do not take the money or take only few manats). That means that even if you have their names and go to the police station you have no chance to do anything other than get more trouble.

Could you specify what you mean by 'This way he will know you mean business'.

I heard of something much worse than my case by two french travellers I met in Sheki:
An Italian guy driving his car to Georgia through Turkey got stopped near Rize, about half an hour before the Turkish-Georgian border and was told that he was speeding with 3kmh over the speed limit (in Turkey you must speed over 10% in order to get fined) and they demanded from him 500USD! He refused to pay and was escorted to the customs of Sarpi. There they searched his car and took away all his car documents. After a long time arguing with the officers and with the help of a Georgian guy he managed to exit Turkey with his car, but was not able to enter Georgia with the car because he had no documents, so he had to park at the customs area and enter Georgia on food. After that he got to the Italian embassy in Tbilisi to get a new car document, but they said that they were not able to do anything and told him to fly back to Italy in order to get a new one.
I could not believe that this happened in Turkey (I have very good memories of this country), but...

The policemen's policy in Ukraine is considered to be rather problematic - a lot of policemen "demand" bribes. What I recommend You from my side - avoid dringking alcohol while Ypu are driving, cause recently there have been imposed huge penalty for that. Also You have to be carefull with speed, in particular in rural area or any kind of settlements - just keep to the speed limitation roadsigns. I do not actually know the situation on roads in Russia - I've never been there. Anyway, I wish You to have a good time in Ukraine!

I never drink and drive the same day, but what I have been told in Georgia by a man who was knowing what he was talking is that the alcohol test gives red (positive) -they still use this soviet-era techonology- if you have been drinking alcohol the last 48 hours! He told me that even drinking a beer caused this effect.
Is this true? 48 hours? Seems too much, especially in a country where everybody drinks each day.
It seems that in the Ukraine they also use the same alcohol-meters (red-green).

#18 police in the ex-Soviet states will use modified equipment that will always show you drove too fast, drunk too much or whatever so they have a reason for a bribe (see my post #7)