The Vinnytsia transportation company will take a five-year lease on 20 new MAN Lion's City city buses with a total cost of UAH 459.7 million. The vehicles will run on natural gas and help the city maintain transportation during power outages. At the beginning of 2026, Vinnytsia already launched gas Solaris Urbino on municipal routes. This was reported by LIGA.net citing Prozorro.
How Much Will Vinnytsia Pay for 20 MAN Lion's City Buses
The KP 'Vinnytsia Transportation Company' signed two financial leasing agreements with Ukrgazbank on August 31. The supplier of the equipment will be MAN Truck and Bus Ukraine LLC.
Under the first agreement, the city will receive 18 buses for UAH 413.7 million. The second provides for the supply of two more vehicles for UAH 46 million. The cost of one bus is approximately UAH 22.98 million.
The Vinnytsia transportation company must pay 20% of the cost as an advance, while the remaining 80% will be financed by Ukrgazbank. The lease term will be 60 months.
According to specifications, this concerns the MAN 12C Lion's City 12 G NL 280. It is a 12.2-meter city bus designed for 85 passengers, including 31 seats.
The buses will come equipped with automatic transmissions, air conditioning, modern safety systems, and equipment for passengers with disabilities. The engines will run on compressed natural gas (CNG) and will meet Euro-6 environmental standards.
The update of the bus fleet in Vinnytsia has already become systematic. In January, the city prepared gas buses Solaris for operation, purchased in 2025. Before entering service, the vehicles underwent technical maintenance, certification, and road tests.
Why Vinnytsia Needs New Buses During Power Outages
The MAN Lion's City belongs to the modern generation of MAN city buses, introduced in 2017. Such vehicles are widely used in EU countries; however, the MAN 12C Lion's City 12 G NL 280 has not previously been supplied to Ukraine, according to the specialized publication Alltransua.
City buses MAN for the European market will be assembled in 2026 at two plants: in Starachowice, Poland, and in Ankara, Turkey. It is currently unknown at which particular plant the batch for Vinnytsia will be manufactured.
The expansion of the bus fleet is essential due to the structure of urban transport. A significant portion of transportation is provided by trams and trolleybuses, whose operations depend on stable electricity supply.
Gas buses can continue operations regardless of the contact network. This allows them to be directed to routes where the movement of electric transport is temporarily halted due to emergency power outages.
Vinnytsia has already tested this model during special training. At that time, the city tested routes, the work of dispatchers, and the feasibility of replacing electric transport with buses and trolleybuses with autonomous movement.