Ukraine Votes to Cancel Daylight Saving Time
By Graham Jones and Mathew Gundersen. Published 18-Jul-2024
Ukraine’s parliament has adopted a law that would scrap the annual transition to summer time.
The Ukrainian parliament meets in the city of Kyiv.
©iStockphoto.com/olga_prava
Ukraine Votes to End Seasonal Time Changes
On July 16, 2024, the Ukrainian parliament voted to cancel Daylight Saving Time (DST)—the practice of turning clocks one hour forward in the spring, and one hour back again in the autumn.
“Parliament adopted #4201 on the change of time in Ukraine from winter to summer time,” wrote Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of the parliament, in a post on Telegram.
“That is, this year we will switch the hands to winter time on the last Sunday (27th) of October, and there will be no switch to summer time from 2025 onwards.”
According to an explanatory note on the parliament’s website, the new law aims to “ensure the protection of territorial integrity and strengthening of national security of Ukraine”, as well as “protecting the health of the population.”
Could the Decision Be Revoked?
At the time of publishing this news story, the status of the new law is listed as “preparing for signature.”
However, it should be noted that a subsequent draft resolution to annul the cancelation of DST was submitted to the parliament on July 17. The current status of this resolution is that “It is being worked on in the committee.”
How the Change Would Work
Up to and including 2024, Ukraine has observed DST. Right now, Ukraine is observing Eastern European Summer Time (EEST), which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
At 04:00 local time on October 27 (4 am on a Sunday morning), Ukraine’s clocks will be turned back one hour to Eastern European Time (EET), which is 2 hours ahead of UTC.
As things currently stand, Ukraine is scheduled to switch back to EEST again on March 30, 2025. Under the new law, this would not happen: Ukraine would remain on EET indefinitely, and DST would no longer be observed.
Note: In some occupied areas of the country, the de facto time (the time used in practice) is Moscow Standard Time (MSK). MSK is 3 hours ahead of UTC, with no clock changes for DST.