Winter tyres and the law: Ukraine, Bulgaria, Poland and neighbours
Every autumn someone on a car forum is sure to demand: “show me the law that makes me fit winter tyres!” There really is no such law in Ukraine. But “not forbidden” does not mean “safe”, and abroad, especially with studs, the rules are altogether different.
The argument about the law is only half the story. Every winter thousands of Ukrainians drive to Poland, Czechia or Bulgaria, and far from all of them know that tyres allowed at home can turn into a fine there.
What does the law say in Ukraine?
For a driver the main document is Ukraine’s traffic regulations, and their clause 31.4.5 forbids operating a passenger car (or a truck up to 3.5 t) if the remaining tread depth of its tyres is less than 1.6 mm. The same clause forbids fitting studded and studless tyres on one axle, tyres of different sizes or construction, and tyres of different models with different tread patterns (more on matching and mixed tyres on the axles).
But you will find no “winter tyres” with dates in the traffic regulations. There is only a note to the same clause: if the car is constantly driven on roads with a slippery surface, it is recommended to fit tyres suited to the state of the road. Recommended, and no more. There is no separate fine for “summer rubber in winter” either: there is the general Article 121 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences (a technically faulty vehicle), but for a private car it takes a specific fault, say that same tread of under 1.6 mm (for taxis and buses the article is stricter). Bills on compulsory winter or all-season tyres have been registered in the Verkhovna Rada more than once, but none has been passed so far.
There is no seasonal duty to fit winter tyres in the traffic regulations: in winter they require the same as in summer, including at least 1.6 mm of tread and matching tyres on one axle. So under the traffic regulations summer tyres are not forbidden in winter. Does that mean you can drive on them? Of course not. A mechanic I know hears “won’t I get fined for summer rubber?” from customers every autumn, and has never once heard “and will I be able to stop on them?”. The rule here is simple, and the code does not cancel it: if your tyres do not suit the weather, you must not drive the car.
Order No. 549: the norms few people know about
Meanwhile, since 2013 Ukraine has had the “Rules for the Technical Operation of Wheels and Pneumatic Tyres…”, approved by Ministry of Infrastructure Order No. 549. It is written in a way that sets your teeth on edge, but a few clauses are worth every driver’s knowing:
- In the winter season passenger cars must run on winter or all-season tyres (section V, clause 20). The order counts as a winter tyre one marked M+S (or M.S, M&S, MS, DP) on the sidewall, and as an all-season tyre one marked All Seasons; it does not require the mountain-and-snowflake mark (more on winter markings and all-season tyres). The order, by the way, does not define the dates of the winter season.
- The minimum tread depth in the winter season is 3 mm (clause 21), not 1.6 (more on when you really should change tyres).
- Studded tyres are intended for cars operated in a mountainous road and climate zone (clause 22) and are fitted to all wheels, the spare included, except a space-saver (clause 27).
- The designated service life of a passenger-car tyre that has not been retreaded is 7 years from the date of manufacture, unless the car or tyre maker has set a different one (clause 44). More on tyre age.
Bear in mind that formally these rules also apply to an ordinary car owner (section I, clause 2), but on the road you are checked against the traffic regulations, not this order. Still, if the state writes “3 mm in winter” in its own technical rules, it probably knows why. And be warier of some tyre fitters’ ads: “4 mm in winter is a requirement of Ukrainian law” and “a tyre is good for only 5 years” are not law but the seller’s creative writing.
Bulgaria: from 15 November to 1 March
In Bulgaria the winter rule is written into the law with dates. The Road Traffic Act (Article 139, paragraph 1, point 4; the norm has been in force since 2017) requires that from 15 November to 1 March a car should run on tyres intended for winter conditions, or on any tyres with at least 4 mm of tread.
Note the logic: 4 mm here is not the minimum for a winter tyre but the condition on which the law tolerates a non-winter one. Studs, by contrast, are banned on public roads in Bulgaria all year round (the same Act, Article 9, paragraph 1).
Poland and other neighbours
In Poland there is no duty to fit winter tyres, but studs are banned by the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym, Article 60). The rest of the neighbours are set out in a table.
| Country | Winter tyres | Minimum tread in winter | Studs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | traffic regulations: no; Order No. 549: winter or all-season in the winter season | 1.6 mm (traffic regulations); 3 mm (Order No. 549) | not banned by the traffic regulations, but they must not be mixed on one axle and a stud sign is needed at the back (clause 30.3); Order No. 549 ties them to the mountain zone |
| Poland | not compulsory | 1.6 mm | banned |
| Bulgaria | 15 November to 1 March: winter tyres, or any tyres with at least 4 mm of tread | 4 mm for non-winter tyres | banned |
| Romania | by weather (snow, ice or black ice on the road) | 1.6 mm | only certified ones, and only on snowy or icy roads |
| Slovakia | by weather (snow, ice or frost on the road) | 3 mm | banned |
| Czechia | 1 November to 31 March, if there are winter conditions | 4 mm | banned |
| Hungary | not compulsory | no separate winter norm | banned |
| Germany | by weather; since 1 October 2024, only tyres with the 3PMSF mark | 1.6 mm | banned |
| Austria | 1 November to 15 April, if there are winter conditions | 4 mm (radial tyres) | allowed from 1 October to 31 May |
Rules in Europe change (think of Germany and its “snowflake”), so check them again before a long trip.
Studs abroad
The biggest surprises await anyone who runs studded tyres. At home you do not break the traffic regulations as long as there is a stud sign at the back, but in most of the countries in the table studded tyres are banned on public roads, and nobody there will care that you are “only passing through”. They are allowed seasonally in Austria and the Baltic states, and with restrictions in Romania. What should you do?
1. Drive on studless winter tyres. For trips west this is the most sensible choice: a modern studless tyre on real black ice is not that far behind studs, and on dry and wet tarmac it wins. You will still have to slow down on ice, though.
2. Have a second set of wheels. If at home you cannot do without studs (mountains, long slippery climbs, rear-wheel drive) and the trip is a one-off, change the wheels before you set off. The miser pays twice, and abroad he pays a fine on top.
3. Do not look for a “compromise”. A set with studs on the driven axle only is just as banned abroad, and at home it is a straight road to a skid: if a car has studded tyres, it has four of them, and there are no compromises here and there can be none.
To sum up: the law sets only the lower limit, and physics decides which tyre is safe. It is like the minimum wage: you may not pay less, but nobody advises you to live on it. A summer tyre visibly loses grip when the average daily temperature is below 5-7 °C, whatever is written in the code of the country you are driving in. So change tyres by the thermometer, not out of fear of a fine.
Question and answer
- Are winter tyres compulsory in Ukraine?
- The traffic regulations set no seasonal duty: winter rules are the summer ones, including at least 1.6 mm of tread on a car and matching tyres on one axle. The technical rules (Order No. 549) require winter or all-season tyres with at least 3 mm of tread in winter.