Uber Ukraine?

Last January Uber was given some free advice here, to stay out of Ukraine, even though they were offering rides to Russians;

1) Uber targets a wealthier, hip market segment.  In Ukraine this segment is extremely small because the hip people have not yet become wealthy.  The wealthy class in this country is still almost completely comprised of people that created old-school, offline businesses.

True the wealthy people sometimes like to do some hip things but in Ukraine these people still like having their own car and driver.  

Come the revolution, though;

Ukraine's government announced the first steps of it cost-cutting program on March 5. They include slashing financing of 42 state programs, as well as the sale of expensive car fleet and properties maintained at taxpayers' cost, Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak said.

Shlapak said some 1,500 government-owned vehicles are undergoing inventory before the sale, including 1,132 vehicles owned by the central government. ....

Shlapak hopes the cars will fetch a total Hr 40 million for the state coffers. Also, a number of state-owned real estate objects will be transferred to the State Property Fund for sale, but he did not provide any specifics.

 “We received the country with an empty treasury, corrupt from the very top to the very bottom," Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said at a Cabinet meeting today, before inquiring about cost-cutting options.

The new class needs to catch a ride.