Lviv has no plans to raise the cost of public transport fares in the city. This was stated on September 23, 2026, by Oleksandr Zabarilo, Director of the Department of Urban Mobility and Street Infrastructure of the Lviv City Council. According to him, the city hall has not received any official requests from carriers regarding fare changes, and the corresponding calculations for revising the fare are absent. Thus, statements about a possible price increase that have appeared in the public domain have no official basis.
Position of the city authorities: no grounds for revision
Oleksandr Zabarilo emphasized that the cost of fuel has indeed risen and currently stands at around 100 hryvnias per liter. However, according to him, the public transport fare in Lviv was revised relatively recently — the last time this happened was in May 2026. “Therefore, there are currently no grounds for another increase,” the official noted. At present, the following fare rates are in effect in the city: 26 hryvnias for cashless payment and 30 hryvnias for cash payment. These prices, the city hall assures, will remain in force until an official request is formed by the carriers and the corresponding economic calculations are carried out.
Carriers insist: adjustment is inevitable
The opposing position was voiced the day before on the air of “Lviv News Manufactory” by Ihor Samardak, Director of the “Ekopatrans” concern. He claimed that a fare adjustment is inevitable and is driven, first and foremost, by the Lviv City Council's debt to the transport enterprises. According to carrier data, the city council's debt for preferential travel in the first half of 2026 reached approximately 50 million hryvnias. At the same time, preferential passenger categories, by their estimates, account for about half of the total passenger flow in urban transport. It is this imbalance, according to industry representatives, that makes the current fare economically unsustainable.
The fuel market as a key factor pressuring fares
The issue of passenger transport costs in Lviv is closely linked to the situation in Ukraine's fuel market. As of September 23, 2026, gasoline at major Ukrainian gas stations costs up to 104 hryvnias per liter, and diesel fuel — around 100 hryvnias. After the price spike at the beginning of the week, quotes entered a phase of temporary stabilization. Nevertheless, experts warn that there is no upper limit to growth in the fuel market and fuel prices may rise again. For carriers, whose operating costs are largely determined by the price of diesel fuel, this creates additional pressure on the cost of transport and forms the argumentation in favor of revising the fare grid.
Contradictory data
There is a significant discrepancy between the position of the Lviv City Council and the statements of the carriers. On the one hand, the city hall officially states that it has not received a single request from transport enterprises to revise fares and that no calculations for an increase have been carried out. On the other hand, the Director of the “Ekopatrans” concern, Ihor Samardak, publicly claims that a fare adjustment is inevitable, citing the city council's 50-million-hryvnia debt for preferential travel and rising fuel prices. Carriers also cite the figure of 35 hryvnias as a potentially economically justified fare level, whereas the current rate is 26–30 hryvnias. At present, neither side has provided documentary evidence of their claims: the city hall refers to the absence of official requests, while the carriers refer to public statements and their own calculations, which were not submitted to the city council in the established manner.
What next: scenarios for the development of the situation
In a situation where the formal mechanism for fare revision has not been triggered and informal pressure from the industry is growing, the most likely scenario for the coming weeks is the maintenance of the current rates of 26 and 30 hryvnias. However, the accumulation of debt for preferential travel and further increases in diesel fuel prices may become a trigger for an official request from carriers to the city council. In that case, an economic expert review will be conducted, as a result of which the fare may be revised upward. Until then, Lviv passengers need not worry: the cost of public transport travel remains unchanged.
