Bribe rates will soar to $2,000: Ukraine is tightening control over driver’s license exams

Ukraine is once again attempting to break the schemes surrounding the issuance of driver’s licenses.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has posted a draft departmental order “On Approval of Amendments to Certain Normative Legal Acts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine” for public discussion on its website. The document outlines a list of new provisions concerning both the exams themselves and the control over their “honesty.”

The exams will continue to be conducted in the form of tests, with each test consisting of 60 questions to be answered within 60 minutes. This remains unchanged.

However, the new draft specifies that the test questions will no longer be automatically generated by a random selection method using special MIA software. Instead, they will be developed and regularly updated by one of the enterprises under the MIA’s management (which one is not specified).

The document also sets out additional requirements for those taking and administering the exams:

• A ban on any form of communication with other individuals undergoing computer testing.
• A ban on using the help of others, any sources of information, including communication devices, and even individual components that may be part of technical devices during the testing process.
• Only medical devices can be brought to the exam, but the examinee must inform the examiner about them before the test begins; otherwise, the exam will not be counted.

“Violation of these requirements is grounds for considering the theoretical exam failed,” the draft order states.

New requirements are also introduced for cameras in training vehicles that record the practical part of the driving exam. In vehicles of class “B,” there must be at least four cameras, and in vehicles of classes C, D, CE, and DE, there must be at least three technical control devices. Currently, there are no specific requirements for the number of cameras—only that they must be present. Moreover, the new draft includes a special camera installation diagram for vehicles, which did not exist before. It specifies the exact locations where the equipment should be mounted. For example, in a sedan, there should be two cameras on each side of the front windshield, one in the center of the vehicle (on the ceiling), and one at the rear.

In trucks, cameras are installed in the cabin and at the rear of the vehicle based on the dimensions of the trailer.

These measures are expected to make the exam process more transparent and honest.

It is worth noting that there have been several attempts in Ukraine to break the schemes of “selling” driver’s licenses, where future drivers simply pay for each part of the exam—both theory and practice—and pass without difficulty. Previously, the fee was around $100 for theory and driving. However, after stricter control measures were introduced (specifically, the installation of cameras in training vehicles), the fee increased 2-4 times, depending on the region.

However, as a Kyiv driving instructor named Vadim told journalists, the schemes themselves have not disappeared.

For example, in theory exam rooms, there are no longer special computers where all answers are automatically correct, and the examiner does not notice cheat sheets or even helps those taking the tests.

Earlier this year, in Lutsk, a group of MIA service center employees, in collusion with driving school staff, were caught helping with the theoretical part of the exam in a unique way: they attached a phone to the clothing of the test-taker, which transmitted the monitor’s image in real-time and vibrated to indicate the correct answer. This service cost test-takers $700.

The driving exam is organized in an even more interesting way. It is considered failed if the student makes one serious mistake or several (2-3) minor ones (for example, waiting for a bus to leave a stop instead of overtaking it).

“But the examiner, with whom there is an agreement, simply doesn’t announce serious mistakes, and the cameras don’t always capture them. Moreover, in training vehicles, there are always additional pedals, and the examiner can help ‘steer’ if something goes wrong,” says Vadim.

Last year, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office reported catching an instructor in the Pechersk district using a scheme with additional pedals. During the exam, the instructor drove while the student turned the steering wheel and activated the turn signals on camera. For such “driving,” students paid $450.

Whether the new tightening of regulations will help shut down these schemes remains an open question.

“Maybe everything will quiet down for a while. But then they’ll come up with something new. No matter where you place the cameras, if two people are in cahoots, they can always make sure that the most important thing doesn’t get caught on camera. After all, there will only be four cameras, not 40, so there are plenty of blind spots. But the prices will rise even higher. If it used to cost $200 for passing theory and practice, prices are now approaching $1,000. The next stage will be at least twice as expensive,” Vadim says.