Communications in Ukraine

Telephone

Ukrainian telephone network stayed practically undeveloped till recently. The situation is being changed within last years and old equipment has been updated. The results are noticeable in big cities and their suburbia, where new digital telephone exchanges have appeared. At the same time, the part of old equipment remains non-upgraded and quality of the connection can vary very much. In little towns and countryside the connection can be very poor. Some villages might have only one telephone to serve the whole built-up area.

Here is some information as to Ukrainian phone price-rates:
Calls are paid per minute, starting from the moment the connection is established.

Usually, calls within city area are free of charge (except for some phone companies).
Intercity calls within Ukraine are up to 0.14 USD/minute.
International calls to the Western Europe are 1.00 - 1.50 USD/minute.
International calls to USA are 2.40 USD/minute.
International calls to more distant countries are up to 4.00 USD/minute.

Phone usage charge at hotels is often 2-3 times higher than phone companies tariffs.

Below you can find a step-by-step description for calling to and from Ukraine.

How to call to Ukraine from abroad:

Dial international access code in your country, then dial 38 (international code of Ukraine) + city code + city number.

For example, to reach our office number in Odessa - 210621 from USA, one has to dial
011380482210621.
011 - International access code in USA
38 - International code of Ukraine
0482 - City code of Odessa
210621 - Our phone number in Odessa
By the way, you are always welcome to call us. We will gladly answer your questions and inquiries, our English speaking staff is at your disposal.

How to call from Ukraine:

To call within a city area, simply dial the local number. It usually has 5-7 digits.

To call to another city in Ukraine:
Wait for the dial tone, dial 8 (intercity access code), then wait for the dial tone, then dial area code and the phone number. The area code and the local number is always a 10-digit combination, except for the calls within a region. If you are calling to a city or a town in the same region there might be less than 10 digits.

To call abroad:
Wait for the dial tone, dial 8 (intercity access code), then wait for the dial tone, then dial 10 (international access code) + country code + area code (if required) + telephone number.

Because of high rates for International calls and low income level, IP- telephony cards become more and more popular in Ukraine. The quality of connection is worse than of usual phone channels but the rates of IP-telephony are 3-4 times lower.

The IP-telephony cards of different nominations can be purchased in computer shops and news-stalls.

Mobile phone networks

There are five companies serving cellular connection in Ukraine:

UMC - National operator of cellular connection. It has the most extensive net in Ukraine.
Standard: GSM 900

Kyivstar GSM - National operator of cellular connection. The coverage is less extensive than of UMC's, but rates are lower.
Standard: GSM 900/GSM 1800 (in some cities)

DCC - covers Kyiv, Odesa, Crimea, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrivsk, Zaporizhzhya and some other regions of Ukraine.
Standard: D-AMPS

Golden Telecom - covers Kyiv and Odesa.
Standard: GSM 1800

WellCom - Kyiv only.
Standard: GSM 900

In case your operator works in one of the mentioned above standards most probably you will be able to use your cell phone in Ukraine as well. Please, make sure details with your provider.

International roaming is quite expensive in Ukraine.

If you wish to stay available for calls in Ukraine and your cell phone supports standards GSM 900 or GSM 1800, a prepaid package can be purchased. The package contains a Sim-card - a chip for plugging into the phone and a voucher for the prepaid time. You can add funds to your phone account by purchasing new vouchers.
This package is provided by UMC, Kyivstar and Golden Telecom and is available at small shops located throughout the big cities. Such places are identified by orange-blue signs of the Sim-cards.

Internet

Internet is developing fast in big cities of Ukraine. Plenty of cyber cafes and clubs provide Internet connection at 1-2 USD per hour.

Dial-up access is about 0.80 - 1.50 USD/hour. Usually, connection speed is a bit slow and depends much on the quality of telephone line. In some cases, Internet access is barely possible if using an old-fashion analogous phone line.

When bringing a laptop in Ukraine, prepaid time cards for Internet access can be used. These cards indicate login, password, connection set-up details and phone numbers for dial-up access. Internet cards can be purchased at computer shops and news-stalls.

Cellular connection operator Kyivstar provides with wireless Internet access as well, speed 9600bps. The service is about 3 USD per hour. It can be easily arranged with a Kyivstar connected cell phone of GSM 900 or GSM 1800 standard with built-in modem and a device for hooking up the cell phone to your laptop (cable or infrared port). The connection is quite slow but good enough for using while traveling.

Mail

Services of the Ukrainian State Mail are inexpensive but prove again the name of "snail". Delivery within Ukraine takes 3-7 days, mail to/from foreign countries reach addressee in about 2 weeks. Therefore, it might be a good idea to use a courier delivery for faster and more effective services. The majority of International couriers have Ukrainian branches. The most popular here is DHL.

When sending a parcel to Ukraine it is worthwhile considering that valuables, cassettes, floppies, compact disks, etc. are subject for Customs' clearance. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid sending the above objects. Customs clearance may cause lots of bureaucratic troubles and monetary expenses as a result of Custom's taxes. Food, plants and animals are prohibited content for mailings to Ukraine, unless the recipient has a special permission from state authorities.

Having been a part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had a unified mail system. All zip codes had 6 digits. In September 1999 this system was updated for 5-digit zips covering Ukraine. You can see below a list of the new zip codes for some cities: