The press service of Vice-Premier for Humanitarian and Social Matters Vyacheslav Kyrylenko quotes him as saying that the Interdepartmental Commission for Promoting National Book Printing and Sales, created by a decision of the Ukrainian government, has approved draft standard-setting instruments to introduce annual quotas on imported printed matter. According to the vice-premier, this decision will help protect Ukrainian books against the influx of 70 million foreign books that arrive in our country by various routes.
The total print run of Ukrainian books is only 54 million copies, 49 percent of which are manuals and textbooks. “This means that the current conditions are extremely unfavorable for the circulation of Ukrainian books in Ukraine,” Kyrylenko noted. The draft resolution stipulates that the Cabinet of Ministers should vary annual quotas on imported printed matter, proceeding from the necessity of gradually increasing the share of Ukrainian printed matter on the national market.
The draft also obliges publishers working in Ukraine to uphold a mandatory quota for printing and selling psart of every publication’s print run in the Ukrainian language. The vice-premier emphasized, however, that “these quotas will not apply to the classics of Russian literature: these books will appear in the original language.” Other exceptions will be books in the languages of Ukraine’s ethnic minorities, published at the state’s expense, as well as foreign-language textbooks, manuals, and dictionaries. Kyrylenko also announced that in one month the State Television and Radio Committee must submit a revised version of the resolution to the cabinet.
Kostiantyn RODYK, editor-in-chief, Knyzhnyk Review:
“Of course, this decision can help solve the problem. But claims that this will stimulate more contraband literature are shaping an erroneous point of view. Does this mean there is nothing to control? Even now almost 90 percent of Russian books in Ukraine have been smuggled in. Actually, all civilized countries, including Russia, set quotas if the imported product exceeds the limit of its presence on the national market by more than 20 percent.
“For example, when our oil pipes exceeded the 20-percent limit on the Russian market, the Russians established quotas. Then they assigned quotas on caramel, cheese, meat, etc. So what? This is normal and correct. But we, in our inexplicable Ukrainian way, are discussing whether to set quotas when 90, not 20, percent of our market is glutted with Russian books.
“Do we have any other foreign literature? Have you seen a glut of English or German books anywhere in Ukraine? We only have a glut of Russian books because even Belarusian books are, after all, Russian, as all high-profile Belarusian publishers are subsidiaries of Russian companies.
“So, my dear friends, we must come down to earth and understand that this 90 percent of money goes to Russia and feeds Russian pensioners. Our pensioners do not get even one kopeck from these books. If we introduce quotas, Ukrainian pensioners will be getting money from Ukrainian book publications. It’s as simple as that. And the situation will change for the better, because today it is next to impossible to sell Ukrainian books: all store shelves and newsstands are filled with Russian books. This means we should leave just one shelf for the latter and fill the other shelves with Ukrainian products. This is the essence of quota setting.”
