There's no economic justification - Stefanchuk about adjusting clocks
Ruslan Stefanchuk, First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, explained the need to cancel the seasonal adjusting of time.
The press service of the Verkhovna Rada reports on the website of the parliament.
"On the night of March 27-28, we adjust the clocks an hour forward. This weekend, we'll actually have to wake up an hour earlier. But I really hope that it's the last year when we need to adjust the clocks. Because the economic feasibility of adjusting the clocks hasn't been proven, and the damage is obvious," Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed.
According to him, the transition to summer or winter time harms human biorhythms.
During preparing the draft law "On calculating time in Ukraine," which proposes to abandon the seasonal adjusting of time, we considered the requirements of Article 92 of the Constitution of Ukraine, according to which only the laws of Ukraine establish units of time. As well as Article 3, which defines a person, his/her life and health as the highest social value. Seasonal adjusting of the clock need not cause harm. The transition to summer or winter time hurts human biorhythms. I sent letters to the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, and the leading medical universities of Ukraine. Absolutely everyone, without exception, expressed support for the idea of canceling the seasonal adjusting of the clock," the First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine explained.
As he noted, the second reason is the need to establish and consolidate a single Kyiv time throughout Ukraine.
"95% of Ukraine's territory is within the UTC +2 time zone. Introducing a single time throughout Ukraine is a geopolitical task. I'd like to remind you that after the annexation of Crimea, the Russian Federation immediately made a decision and established Moscow time in the temporarily occupied territories," the politician said.
Besides, as noted by Ruslan Stefanchuk, the economic feasibility of adjusting the clock hasn't been proven.
"In the 18th century, the decision to adjust clocks was made to save candles. In the 21st century, the realities of life have changed significantly and there's no need for any savings. The conclusions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine state that there's no economic feasibility for adjusting clocks. No study would prove saving electricity," he said.
The First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine believes that both "summer" and "winter" time have their pros and cons.
"We should understand one thing: it's dawn and dusk, regardless of the laws, and no one can influence it. We proposed to keep Kyiv time, as 95% of Ukraine's territory is within a single time zone, UTC +2. Only Luhansk and partly Donetsk and Kharkiv region, and a small part of the Zakarpattia region are in other time zones. The time difference between them is 68 minutes. As a result, the East is dissatisfied with summer time, because it dawns there at 3 a.m., and the West doesn't like winter time, because it's still dark at 9 am," Ruslan Stefanchuk clarified the situation.
According to him, "for the convenience of everyone, the text of the draft law submitted for the second reading should provide for local governments being able, if necessary, recommend the start of the working day for enterprises, institutions and organizations of all forms of ownership in the territory."
"An online vote was held in the EU countries, according to which 84% of residents voted for abolishing the transition to "summer" and "winter" time.
Of course, the issue of abandoning the seasonal adjusting of time can be raised at an all-Ukrainian referendum. However, we should bear in mind that the cost of one referendum is approximately UAH 2 billion. Is it worth spending so much money to find out the opinion of the population about which time to stay on?" the politician stressed.
Ruslan Stefanchuk reminded of Draft Law "On Time Calculation in Ukraine" having been submitted for a second reading.
"We'll improve what we have learned, and I hope that this idea will be implemented soon," he said.
To recap, on March 19, the Verkhovna Rada sent the draft law for completion for the second reading which provides for canceling transition from summer to winter time and vice versa in Ukraine.
