Driving in Ukraine - how bad is the traffic police?

As for post #7, when they start to do all the paperwork (and start to frighten you that they are going to take away your driving license and car document if you don't pay), do they always give up, or only sometimes?
Of course, if you have done nothing wrong.

I've been only twice in that situation and in both cases they gave up quite rapidly

I don't think that you'll meet any blunt extortion attempts by Ukrainian police like the ones you mentioned in Azerbaijan.

In 2005, I was stopped by Ukrainian police while trying to reach the ferry to Russia (in Kerch, Crimea) because I overtook some tractor going 5 km/h on a solid line. The policeman was very polite and explained the process to me. We'd have to go to the police station, a protocol would be made and I would receive a payment slip I would have to present in a bank. When I asked what would happen if I just drove to ferry and exited to Russia without paying the fine, he said they couldn't do anything and they couldn't even keep my documents as a deposit. It ended with some € 8,-- in local currency - bribe - to save the hassle and reach the ferry, but the € 8,-- were well invested as fees for legal advice.

On another occasion, during a routine stop, our papers were checked and nothing else happened.

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Edited by: qwer1234

I live in Kiev and have my swedish registered car here.
The big problem with Ukrainian Traffic Cops is that they are absolutely everywhere.
So, whatever tiny rule you break, you WILL be busted. Seriously, no shit.
The only safe place to speed is on the major highways, because meeting traffic will flash their lights as someone mentioned earlier.
However, always slow down when approaching a gas station or some populated area.
So far, I've been stopped 9 times in the last 2 months. But most of the times, I've actually broken some rule, speeding, overtaking or whatever.

I think, this stuff about all us foreigners ruining for other travellers by paying bribes is BS, because not all of us have time to sit around and wait for the cops to let you go.
And also, some cops can be quite intimidating, and some unpleasant situations may appear. Then, sorry, but I can't be loyal to other travellers bribing needs.

Another thing; taking fine protocols and leaving the country is of course fine, UNLESS you plan to enter the country in the same car again.
When I came back from Poland, the Ukrainian Border checked all my documents in their computers, looking for unpaid fines etc.

Anyway, you're safe as long as you stick to the rules, the cops may stop you anyway, but as long as you have your papers in order, you're fine.
Oh and bribes have been from UAH 200-500, and one single time much more than that.

Good luck, have fun and after all Ukraine IS a wonderful country in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, police is not one of them.

Well dondi it's foreigners like you who ruin the bribe market for other foreigners, probably you always pay the maximum price for everything and have no clue how to haggle down prices or how to live in Ukraine without tons of translators and other people doing things for you.
And you may have broken some rules in a numebr of the 9 cases, but so have millions of others but because you have a foreign plate they stop you as they expect foreigners to pay the highest bribe, do you think they ever stop the Porsce Cayennes that park anywhere in Kiev on places where it's absolutely not possible or allowed or that drive 170 km/h throught villages, no they don't as the ordinairy policemen are affraid of rich people in Ukriane, but they are confident they can get a lot of money from naive foreigners like you

TheDevil: What should he had to do, if the cops don't give up and threaten him that they will take his driving license away? I think that some of them won't give up.

BTW, it's not good for tourism nor for business to treat foreigners like ATMs and extort them whenever possible.

From: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/28/world/fg-traffic-cop28
(It's in Russia, but it is highly possible that the situation in Ukraine is the same)

[quote] If you pay the bribe, it may cost you $40, $60, maybe $100, plus 15 minutes and a few curses muttered under the breath.

If you don't pay the bribe, you have to go to traffic court. And it takes months to get a court date, and meanwhile you don't have a license, even if it's your American license.

And if you need to, for example, get that license back because you are leaving for a vacation in the United States and you want to drive while you're there, then you may (let's pretend this is hypothetical) have to hunt down the man in the bowels of the traffic bureaucracy who is powerful enough to get that license back. And that bribe will be plenty steep; lots more than you'd have paid on the side of the road. Hypothetically.[/quote]

To answer #26's question to #25, there are many different ways to handle this.

A Ukrainian local gets pulled over for a legitimate offence, cracks a few jokes, shares a cigarette, maybe mentions some common acquaintances and then offers a little something to the cop hoping his family has a nice christmas. The little something might be up to UAH 50, about $8. Foreigners can do this too if their bluffing is up to it, but it does need some language skills and an ability to read the situation. It relies on the fact that the cop would rather have $8 than fill out a hundred forms.

The whole process, handled properly, gets nowhere near the conflict situation of asking how much, the cop asking $100, the motorist calling the embassy, the cop saying he'll confiscate a driving license etc. At that point its hard for either side to come down - if you get to this stage you are pretty much screwed.

Edited by: AndrewSmith

Actually what happened to me was like that: The police car stops me in the middle of nowhere. They could even have robbed me (using force), if they wanted to. A policeman comes and presents himself and asks about my driving license and car documents, after that he says that there is a fine and if I want to pay it there. I said well...ok. He asks me one more time: so you have money to pay the fine now? I said yes. After a while he fills some kind of control sheet writing my name, license number... He said that I have been speeding. I said to him that I didn't know that I was speeding, because there was no sign. He says that you should have seen the sign. He says that the fine is 131 manat and shows me the bogus radar. I pretend to say, 31 manat-ok (as if I didn't hear that he said 131). He said, NO! 131 manat and then the bargaining/bluff crying started. Then I told him about the embassy and the like. At the end he says: ok and writes 50 with a pencil on a corner of the control sheet. I said it's still too high and that I won't pay that much, then he said: either you pay 131 or 50, that's your choice. I paid him 50 and he said: sign here to complete the 'fining procedure' and I signed the control sheet. No receipt, of course.
At the end they said using the radio something like 'we got 50 manats...'
There were absolutely no opportunities to make jokes and the like. They behaved in a very rude and intimidating manner.
I also got frightened that there was some form of written proof that I paid 50 manats.

I was also stopped in Zaqatala(Azerbaijan) and Armenia several times, it also looked that they wanted some money (rubbing their fingers), but after speaking about a minute or so, they very quickly gave up. They didn't say: you have committed an offense and there is a fine. Do you want to pay the fine NOW? (asking-extorting a bribe).