UTC+03:00 is an identifier for atime offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours ahead of theCoordinated Universal Time (UTC).Following theISO 8601 standard, a time with this offset would be written as, for example, 2019-02-08T23:36:06+03:00.
For other time zones with the abbreviation AST, seeAST (time).
Arabia Standard Time, or AST (indicated byKSA on some Arabic TV stations), is used by some of the countries in theMiddle East. As this time zone is predominantly in the equatorial region, there is no significant change in day length throughout the year, so daylight saving time is not observed. Between 1982 and 2007, Iraq observedArabia Daylight Time (UTC+04:00) but the government abolished DST in March 2008.[5][6]
Arabia Standard Time is used by the following countries:
Most ofEuropean Russia, includingMoscow,Saint Petersburg,Rostov-on-Don,Novaya Zemlya,Franz Josef Land. From October 26, 2014 Moscow and most other parts of European Russia started using UTC+03:00 again, year-round.[7] Also on September 7, 2016, Turkey started using UTC+03:00 year-round.[8][9] Besides the names mentioned above, the name "Eastern Europe Forward Time"' (EEFT) is sometimes used.
The westernmost point at UTC+03:00 is the westernmost point of contiguous Russia, nearLavry,Pskov Oblast (27°19' E). Thetime zone employed there (corresponding to45°E) is 17°41' E of physical time, i.e. roughly 1 hour and 11 minutes ahead ofphysical time, making for the largest overall discrepancy between time used and physical time for UTC+03:00.
The easternmost point at UTC+03:00 isCape Zhelaniya,Severny Island,Novaya Zemlya, Russia (69°06' E). The time zone employed there (corresponding to45°E) is 24°06' W of physical time, i.e. roughly 1 hour and 36 minutes behind physical time, making for the largest discrepancy between time used and physical time for UTC+03:00.
On February 8, 2011,Russian presidentDmitry Medvedev issued a decree cancellingdaylight saving time in Russia. Under the decree, all clocks in Russia advanced by 1 hour on March 27, 2011, but did not change back the following October, effectively making Kaliningrad Time UTC+03:00 permanently, and Moscow TimeUTC+04:00 permanently. This proved unpopular because of the dark mornings, children walking to school and people going to work in complete darkness. On October 26, 2014, Russia permanently returned tostandard time by setting the clocks back by 1 hour effectively making Kaliningrad TimeUTC+02:00 permanently and Moscow Time UTC+03:00 permanently.
Ukraine had UTC+02:00 plus regularlyEEST from 1990 till 2011 (in years 1981–1990 Moscow Summer Time) until theUkrainian parliament added 1 hour "on the territory of Ukraine from March 27, 2011" and canceled daylight saving time on September 20, 2011,de facto making EEST (UTC+03:00) the new standard time.[16] After strong criticism from the mass media, on 18 October 2011 the Ukrainian parliament cancelled its previous decision.[17]
_-_without_Crimea.svg)