On Saturday, January 16, Article 30 of the law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language" comes into force in Ukraine.

From this date, the entire service sector is obliged to switch to the Ukrainian language.

In addition, information about goods and services on price tags, instructions, labels, markings, etc. should be written in Ukrainian.

Recall that the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language" in April 2019.

Petro Poroshenko, who was then President of Ukraine, signed the document shortly before his defeat in the second round of the presidential election.

The law came into force on July 16, 2019, but not completely - some of its provisions are being introduced gradually.

So, at the initial stage, the inhabitants of the country were obliged to use the Ukrainian language in all public spheres of public life.

In addition, all cultural events should be held in the state language, films and television programs should be shot.

Advertising has been Ukrainianized since January 16, 2020. 

From July 16 of the same year, all scientific publications began to be published in Ukrainian, English or in the official languages ​​of the European Union (however, in these cases, with an annotation in Ukrainian).

From the same date, all medical documentation began to be issued only in Ukrainian.

Mandatory Ukrainization also affected the transport sector: the names of stops, stations, ports and airports are now written only in Ukrainian, duplication in Latin is allowed.

Now the turn has come to the service sector of the population.

From January 16, employees of supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, sports clubs, hairdressers and other establishments, regardless of their ethnic origin, will be required to start a conversation with customers only in Ukrainian.

And only at the request of the visitor, they can switch to a convenient language of conversation.

For failure to comply with the innovations, penalties are provided.

“The Ombudsman's Secretariat can carry out unscheduled control measures regarding violations of the language law.

If such violations are repeated and systemic throughout the year, we have the right to impose a fine.

It would seem that for someone this amount is small (5100-6800 hryvnia, which is equivalent to 13-18 thousand rubles or $ 182-242. -

RT

), but it will hit not so much the pockets of the business as the reputation.

And this is exactly what has been accumulating over the years, ”says the statement of the Ukrainian commissioner for the protection of the state language Taras Kremin, posted on the government website.

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Last week on the air of the Pryamoy TV channel, Kremin also clarified that fines for violating the language law will be levied from the enterprise, not from the personnel.

True, they do not promise to fine immediately - the Ukrainian government postponed repressive measures until July 16, 2022.

Kremin also posted instructions on his Facebook page on how to file a complaint if the staff does not serve in Ukrainian.

The instructions say that the corresponding appeal can be sent to the office of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language online - by e-mail or through the website.

At the same time, he recommends that the complaint be accompanied by evidence.

This can be video footage of the incident, audio recording, or written confirmation of eyewitnesses.

Let us remind you that the law on the state language also presupposes the creation of a special “language commission” that will monitor the mandatory use of the Ukrainian language in public spheres of life.

  • Kiev metro

  • © Gleb Garanich / Reuters

It is worth noting that even before Article 30 came into force, Ukrainians organized a flash mob with an appeal to demand service in Russian.

So, on January 14, the ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, Vladimir Oleinik, said on the air of the NSN TV channel that it is necessary "not to defend ourselves, but to advance together, to switch to Russian."

"And if someone (to make. -

RT

) comments to me, I will tell them that no one speaks pure Ukrainian at all, it is constantly diluted with words in Russian, English, Hungarian and other languages," he said.

Similar calls have appeared on social media. 

"From the 16th, everywhere and always ask for service in Russian!"

- wrote the Kiev political scientist Mikhail Pavliv on his Facebook page.

Commentators supported Pavil's call, and one of the users emphasized that if his request to speak Russian was refused, he "would leave all his goods on the tape in front of the cashier and go to a nearby grocery store."

History of the issue


Recall that after Petro Poroshenko signed the scandalous law on the language, in June 2019, a group of deputies of the Verkhovna Rada appealed to the Constitutional Court (CC) of Ukraine with a proposal to declare this law unconstitutional.

Its initiators considered that the document did not comply with a number of provisions of the Ukrainian Constitution: Article 10, which guarantees "the free development, use and protection of Russian and other languages ​​of national minorities," Article 11, according to which the state should contribute to the consolidation of the Ukrainian nation, including including through the development of the linguistic, cultural and religious identity of national minorities.

The authors of the submission also drew attention to the 22nd article of the Constitution, which notes that new laws cannot narrow the content and scope of existing rights and freedoms, and to article 24, which proclaims equal rights for all citizens of Ukraine.

The language law signed by Poroshenko, according to the deputies, violates the country's Constitution and creates an "atmosphere of intolerance" in the country.

Vladimir Zelensky, who came to power, promised to check whether all the constitutional rights of the country's citizens are respected in the new law.

However, after taking the presidency, he did not cancel Poroshenko's decisions in the language sphere, but, on the contrary, continued his course - in the spring of 2020 Zelensky signed the law "On complete general secondary education", which provides for the continuation of the reduction of teaching in the languages ​​of national minorities.

Despite the fact that a group of deputies filed a petition to the Constitutional Court regarding the language law in the summer of 2019, the Constitutional Court has not yet made a decision.

The head of the Constitutional Court, Alexander Tupitsky, spoke about this at the beginning of November on the air of the Pryamoy TV channel, referring to the fact that the case was too large in volume.

“It is hard to imagine that in an unconstitutional way the Constitutional Court will be against the people of Ukraine, and will not try to improve the issues of nationality, culture, language of the Ukrainian people.

For understanding, I will say: there are no special problems there.

There is the issue of national minorities and so on, ”he said.

On December 10, during a briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that "the Russian language, which is used by the majority of the country's population in everyday life, is, in fact, subjected to double discrimination."

“The provisions of this law (“ On the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language. ”-

RT

) come into direct conflict with Kiev's international legal obligations under a number of multilateral documents,” Zakharova said.

According to her, the law was also adopted "in violation of human rights and constitutional norms."

“But most importantly, it was imposed on the Ukrainian society without taking into account the opinion of the country's citizens,” the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized, adding that “the law and a number of other artificial and highly politicized initiatives of official Kiev only exacerbate the split in Ukrainian society.”

"Does not meet the norms of the rule of law"

According to the deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin, the new stage of Ukrainization "will greatly complicate the life of service workers."

“This will hit Eastern and Central Ukraine extremely seriously.

In general, local authorities will have to respond to complaints from activists who will be fanatical about this issue and try to provoke service workers to violate the law on state language.

This whole situation can cause serious tension among the population, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

A RT source in the Batkivshchyna party made a similar opinion.

“The entry into force of Article 30 of the Law on the State Language will lead to the polarization of society.

People have the right to speak the language they want.

The authorities provoke a language conflict from scratch, ”he said.

  • Activists in Kiev

  • © Gleb Garanich / Reuters

As Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, said in an interview with RT, Ukraine "in recent years has been pursuing an unprecedented policy of Ukrainianization, discrimination on the basis of linguistic, cultural and ethnic characteristics of a significant part of the population."

“And, of course, this policy does not meet the norms of a modern democratic rule of law.

Kiev creates unequal conditions for speakers of different languages.

This is absolutely unacceptable, ”the analyst said.

In turn, the RT source in the ruling Servant of the People party was forced to admit that in the east and south of the country "many young people do not speak Ukrainian at all."

"Now they will lose their jobs, since it is impossible to learn a language in a month," the deputy admitted.

Even many deputies and officials do not know the Ukrainian language, a source told RT in the Golos party.

“What can we say about the majority of the country's population.

Apparently, the authorities like to create additional problems for people.

Instead of taking care of improving the standard of living, purchasing vaccines from COVID-19, they think in what language they will greet them in the supermarket, ”the interlocutor of RT said.

According to Vladimir Shapovalov, further implementation of the law on the state language in Ukraine "will lead to a significant deterioration in the quality of life of the Russian-speaking population."

“After all, their usual way of life, including at the household level, will suffer significant damage,” the expert explained.

At the same time, Shapovalov believes that the recognition of the language law as unconstitutional can still take place in the future.

“This should be tackled by politicians who express the interests of the Russian-speaking population, or those who simply take a position that meets the principles of democracy,” the analyst said.

However, it is not worth waiting for the abolition of the law in the near future, since "this topic does not arouse interest among the current authorities now," Shapovalov believes.

“They are more interested in the struggle for seats and positions, the desire to adapt to the greatest extent to the interests of Europe or the United States.

But they have absolutely no desire to follow the expectations of their citizens.

And a significant part of the population of Ukraine, regardless of ethnicity, is Russian-speaking, ”the expert said, recalling that Zelensky did not fulfill his election promises, including those related to the state language.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

  • © Sergey Dolzhenko / Pool via REUTERS

“Zelensky has demonstrated during his recent stay in power a complete inability and unwillingness to fulfill the obligations he has taken on.

In fact, he simply deceived the Ukrainian voters who voted for him, ”the analyst stressed.

According to the expert, the Ukrainianization policy will continue in the near term.

“The Ukrainian elites will consistently squeeze the Russian language out of various spheres of life of the Ukrainian state.

In fact, we are talking about the creation of an ethno-mono-national state, in which the interests of other nations and linguistic groups are not taken into account, they are simply neglected, "Shapovalov concluded.