“Strana”: Ukrainian media will abandon the Russian-language version due to the law on the Ukrainian language
Photo: Evgeny Dudin / Kommersant
Ukrainian print media will have to abandon the Russian-language version because of the law on the Ukrainian language. This is stated in the material of the “Strana” publication.
According to the new law, which will come into force on January 16, publications must print at least half of their circulation in Ukrainian.
Oksana Bogdanova, editor-in-chief of the Komsomolskaya Pravda na Ukraine newspaper, noted that with the introduction of the new law, print media will be forced to abandon the Russian-language version due to financial difficulties.
“It is very expensive to publish two versions of the newspaper, both in Ukrainian and in Russian, because the main costs are paper, printing and sales. That is, the costs will double if you do two versions at the same time, ”she explained.
Bogdanova noted that the next issue of the newspaper will be published only in Ukrainian. The general director of the Mega-press group publishing house Roman Greba also said that the newspapers Programmka, Program TV, Telekurier and Telegid will be published in Ukrainian from the first January issue.
Media expert Serhiy Chernyavsky added that the transition to the Ukrainian language primarily affects small and medium-sized businesses that sell print media. He is confident that many print media will not survive the innovations at all.
“In the future, this will lead to a reduction in taxes, loss of jobs, but we have a political solution to the issue that is above the interests of the entire print media industry,” he said.
At the same time, the article notes that some publications intend to try to bypass the new legislation. The document contains an exception for regional media, they are obliged to switch to Ukrainian only from July 2024. Editions in indigenous languages, in the official languages of the European Union and in English are also excluded from these restrictions.
Aleksey Babansky, deputy director of the Soyuzpechat agency, said that some publishers are already trying to circumvent the law and re-register media outlets under a regional certificate in order to remove the issue of switching to Ukrainian by 2024.
On December 22, the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of the republic announced the introduction of a new law on the Ukrainian language. It will not be possible to enter any information in Russian into the Ukrainian-language print media, including announcements and advertisements.
