Ukraine dramatically increases support for book sector to bolster culture and counter disinformation

As part of a broad effort to bolster Ukrainian culture and counter Russian disinformation, Ukraine is dramatically increasing government support for its book sector.

The budget of the Ukrainian Book Institute, a state institution that is in charge of book publishing, book distribution and the entire book publishing industry, will increase by more than five times in 2024, to UAH 466 million.

The budget of the Ukrainian Book Institute will be increased by more than five times in 2024. Rostyslav Karandeev, acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy, announced this during a press conference (text in Ukrainian).

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has formed a budget request for ₴8 billion in 2024.

“The budget of the Ukrainian Book Institute, a state institution that is in charge of book publishing, book distribution and the entire book publishing industry, has been increased more than five times. Which means that books, and meeting reading needs of citizens of Ukraine, is relevant today, and this relevance is understood by our colleagues, both representatives of the government and the Parliament, Verkhovna Rada, of Ukraine,” Karandeev said.

At the same time, the acting minister underlined that the problem of allocating funds to replenish library collections is still unresolved.

“An opportunity window opened since the beginning of the full-scale invation, which is sponsorship and funds from foreign partners. We buy many books, especially children’s books, and not only foreign ones, by the way, but also Ukrainian, at the expense of foreign charitable partners. Local city councils also have an opportunity to take care of their public libraries, which they do,” Karandeev said.

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Source: Ukrinform
Image: Ukrainian Book Institute