In 2003 Ukraine’s publishing companies put out half a book per capita

On March 15 the Ostroh Academy National University hosted a roundtable to discuss the problems of the nation’s book publishers. Among those present for the discussion were Ihor Aleksiyenko and Vera Simonova, managers of Naukova Dumka, one of Ukraine’s oldest publishing companies; Lybid Publishers Deputy Director Mariya Kurhan; Prof. Vasyl Ulianovsky, Ph.D. in history, who has fruitfully collaborated with Lybid for a decade; Valery Cherepukha, chairman of the Press and Information Department in the Rivne Regional State Administration; and Rivne Knyha Network Director Mykhailo Sverdliuk.

The publishers were shown the campus by Ostroh Academy Rector Ihor Pasichnyk and Yaroslav Bondarchuk, chair of the Ostroh Heritage Study Center. After that, they met with teachers and students. They were posed a number of interesting questions. Below are some of them.

We have heard much about Ukrainian book-publishing problems of late. After a protest rally, when noted Ukrainian authors roasted shish-kebab over their burning manuscripts in front of the Cabinet building, the issue was broached in Verkhovna Rada. There is a pertinent edict signed by the president. Do you expect any changes for the better?

Ihor ALEKSIYENKO: I attended that protest rally. Let me tell you that we have been combating the Cabinet over book publishing since 1996. That year we were invited to a Warsaw conference on the legislative aspects of book publishing, under the auspices of UNESCO and the Council of Europe. After the conference, we approached the organizers with our problems and they sent recommendations to the Ukrainian government, urging Ukraine’s leaders to create a solid legal framework to help revive the national book-publishing business. No response was forthcoming, however. Two years ago, we and Mr. Chyzh, then Chairman of the Television and Radio State Committee, submitted a bill to Verkhovna Rada On Measures to Assist Book Publishing in Ukraine. The bill was passed and had to take effect on January 1, 2003, but then the leadership changed and the law was blocked. It had the president’s signature on it, meaning it should have been in effect since January 1.

Last year, Ukrainian publishing companies put out half a book per capita (compared to three books per capita in Russia). We and our distributors do not know what to do, because the budget program actually bans book sales without levying the value added tax, whereas the law does allow this.

There is a paradoxical situation in the Ukrainian book-publishing business. Ukrainian books are actually published in Russia where their prime cost is considerably lower than in Ukraine. Don’t you think that our country should have a legal framework and a system of authorities to secure the book-publishing priority and block any lobbying on the part of forces loath to see any book-publishing progress in Ukraine? Or perhaps the reason for the current stagnation is that there is little public interest in Ukrainian books, owing to an overall decline of readership?

Ihor ALEKSIYENKO: The Russians have simply taken advantage of our problems and make good money publishing our books. As for public interest, the trouble is that Ukrainian books are available in cities and regional or district centers, but not in the countryside. One is pained to see village schoolchildren copy textbooks for want of printed copies. We need books. Granted, book publishing is a line of business, but we must remember that books are also cultural assets, promoting human spirit, changing man’s inner world for the better. Good books form the linchpin of the nation. We’ll never build a Ukrainian state relying on Russian books.

Vasyl ULIANOVSKY: Something interesting happened during the first year of my teaching at the Kyiv Shevchenko University. At first, they didn’t allow me to teach the History students and transferred me to the Romanic Germanic Department. After the very first lecture students approached me, asking if I could conduct classes in Russian, for they had problems understanding me. Something had to be done. Teaching Ukrainian history in Russian was absurd, even though Russian is my mother tongue and I was born in the north of Russia. I continued reading lectures in Ukrainian, but would prepare for each the way I’d never done before. Surprisingly, after several months of hard work and patience students would come to suggest translating foreign books on Ukraine of the period we were studying and writing essays. What I mean is that Ukrainian should not only be spoken, but also propagated, so the language could be used to influence an expressly antagonized audience. Therefore, promoting and asserting Ukrainian primarily depends on the younger generation, it being the future of this country. After graduation, you’ll have every opportunity to sow the seeds of lasting good and wisdom; you will be able to cultivate your beautiful melodious language, so everyone will love using it. Books are not the only hope, but also every personality as a carrier of this language. Only you, as a young elite component of this society, will be able to reestablish a friendly attitude toward your mother tongue.

Mariya KURHAN: Ukrainian books are in demand. They are considerably more expensive, but are bought nevertheless. We often hold book exhibits at Ukrainian higher schools; we understand that students need books in the first place. It is sad to watch students chip in to buy a book each of them needs but cannot afford. Such books are needed now probably more than ever before.

Mykhailo SVERDLIUK: We are organizing a mobile bookshop and will try to visit all district centers. Imagine local teachers being informed about our arrival and coming from neighboring towns and villages to buy books, even expensive ones. That is intelligentsia for you! In fact, I think that discussing whether or not we need Ukrainian books is ridiculous. Of course we need them!

Do your publishing companies cooperate? Are you rivals?

Ihor ALEKSIYENKO: The fact that we have both been selling the same books and visiting the same exhibits is evidence that no, we are not rivals, unfortunately; we cooperate because we must make sure there are lots of good books.

AFTERWORD

Ostroh students asked many other questions, among them about the government’s policy with regard to national book publishing, the latter’s advantages and shortcomings compared to Europe. We were packing our tape recorders when a fellow student came running and asked to lend her twenty hryvnias so she could buy a book, promising to pay as soon she had her stipend. Indeed, Ukrainian books are in demand. People want to read them and look forward to new editions.