Monday, 06.02.2012
The majority of foreign football fans coming for matches of European football championship in summer will discover Ukraine for the first time. To make the meeting with the most mysterious country of Europe, as it is called by many guides, trouble-free and pleasant, Euro 2012 guests should follow some rules.
The Ukrainian edition "Today" composed a list of useful advice which will help foreign fans to avoid unpleasant surprises in Ukraine.
Be aware of provocations of false highway policemen. On Ukrainian roads, especially in summer, you can meet swindlers acting as officers of so-called ecological militia, which impose unnecessary paid services to drivers. Most often false highway policemen stop car owners and take their money for measuring of toxins (CO) content in exhaust gases and degree of solar tinted glass - "penalties" sometimes reach 150 EUROs. Foreign self-driving tourists are most often victims of such false highway policemen, as they can't tell them from a real officers of State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate.
Therefore, even if you have no doubts about the "rightness" of a highway policeman, remember: the control of hazardous substances emission doesn't exist on Ukrainian highways.
Do not pay doubtful lodgings in advance. It's not a great secret, that the majority of foreigners, intending to visit Euro 2012, look for low-price lodging. That's why some enterprising Ukrainian citizens, convincing foreign guests of high prices and poor services of local hotels, offer to stay in a flat or a room: they say it is cheaper, cleaner and more comfortable. As a result, the client pays the first night of living (in Kiev it is equal $30 to $150), and on arriving at the place he finds out that nobody waits for him there, and yesterday "renters" disappeared.
So the best way to avoid such uncomfortable situation is to book a room in a hotel or a hostel.
Provide yourself with adapters for electrical appliances. Incompatibility of Ukrainian sockets with the plugs of European and American electronic devices can make an unpleasant surprise for Euro 2012 guests, especially for guests from England or Ireland. Thus, in order to have possibility of charging their phone or laptop, the foreign fans should provide themselves with essential adapters.
Take fixed-route minibuses only if you are accompanied by your Ukrainian friends. Unassisted trip in public transport in hosting cities of Euro 2012 can lead into a real quest for a foreigner. It is especially true about the fixed-route minibuses ("marshrutka"), which already became a proverb among the foreign guests who had visited Ukraine. The main problem about them is that the drivers do not announce bus stops, and the bus stops can have the names different from those indicated on maps. So, in order to get out at the right stop and not to get lost, it is desirable that you were accompanied by some of your Ukrainian acquaintances.
Have cash on you. Paying with credit cards is not as widespread in Ukraine as in Europe, and, as a result, not all the shops, restaurants and taxies have point-of -sale terminals. So the guests of Euro 2012 are recommended to have cash on them to be able to pay the orders.
According to Ukrainian law, the foreign citizens can exchange foreign currency in a sum not exceeding 50 thousand UAH (4700 EUROs) on presenting any document of identification. Herewith a cashier should issue a certificate of currency exchange, according to which the tourist leaving Ukraine will be able to exchange back the rest of his Ukrainian gryvnias into foreign currency.
