Cancellation of time change: will Zelensky agree to it?
24 October 2024 20:02
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not plan to sign the law passed in July cancelling the time change. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to BBC News Ukraine.
A source in the presidential team told BBC Ukraine that the law will not be signed.
“The president does not plan to sign it,” the source in the Presidential Office said.
Another source in the presidential faction also assured the BBC that there would be no signature.
“The speaker is against it, it’s his idea, so in order not to offend him, there will be no veto, but there will be no signature,” he assured.
The main reason, according to the media source, is the economic losses, which are measured in billions.
Draft law on timekeeping in Ukraine: what is known about it
We are talking about draft law No. 4201, which was supposed to cancel seasonal time change in Ukraine. It was adopted by a majority of votes (261 votes in favour) by MPs on 16 July 2024. The document was initiated by Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.
The law establishes a permanent time standard in Ukraine – UTC 2 on the international scale. Prior to this decision, Ukraine used to live on Eastern European time and switched its clocks twice a year: on the last Sunday of March to daylight saving time and on the last Sunday of October to winter time.
Its purpose, as stated in the explanatory note, is to define the legal basis for establishing time units, calculating time in Ukraine and meeting the needs of citizens, society and the state for reliable information about the exact time and calendar date.
The authors of the draft law and the Economic Development Committee, which recommended it for consideration, argue that it is aimed at protecting public health, as most scientists believe that the current time calculation procedure causes a significant deterioration in the health of citizens during the period of adaptation to “summer” and “winter” time. This “seasonal time jump” leads to changes in human biological rhythms. It has also been proven that changing the clocks does not help energy saving.
Who opposed the Law on Timekeeping
on 14 August, Oleksiy Honcharenko , an MP from the European Solidarity party, registered a petition calling on the President of Ukraine to veto the draft law on timekeeping. It is worth noting that it even received the required number of votes to be considered by the leader of the state.
Among the arguments in the petition is that in summer, dawn will break at 3:00 am and it will get dark at 8:00 pm, which will be especially noticeable for residents of the eastern regions. The petition also states that the decision will not help save electricity, as it will increase its consumption in the evening. At the same time, the two-hour difference with Europe will affect cooperation with partners.
Why clocks are being reset in Ukraine
In 1981, Ukraine, along with the Soviet republics, also started setting its clocks forward to save electricity and extend daylight hours. In the early 1990s, the country tried to abandon the seasonal changeover, but in 1992, the clocks were reset again, taking into account the time calculation procedure used in Europe.
