Poroshenko signed into law a 75% quota on the use of the Ukrainian language on television
President Petro Poroshenko reported on Twitter that he just signed into law a 75% quota on the use of the Ukrainian language on television.
"I would like to thank the media representatives for their proposals on the introduction of quotas and the return of the Ukrainian language to Ukrainian media. I signed the relevant law," the President wrote.
"Here the laurels belong to you. This is your initiative and your proposal, which I simply supported. People's deputies did their job perfectly and I signed the law with great pleasure," the press service quoted the President as saying.
The head of state also stressed this decision protects the Ukrainian language among other languages in Ukraine. "No one is against other languages sounding from the [television] screens. However, it is unacceptable that the share of the Ukrainian language on any Ukrainian channel is fifteen, twenty or twenty five percent. Thank God we managed to defend this," he said.
It was recently reported that on May 23, the Verkhovna Rada introduced a 75% quota for Ukrainian language on television. For non-compliance with quotas, a penalty of 5% of the amount of the license fee is collected from the TV channels.
The Verkhovna Rada introduced quotas for Ukrainian songs on the radio in the summer of 2016. In the first year after the introduction of the law they should amount to at least 25% of the total time of songs played within 24 hours. Then, gradually, the quotas will be increased to 35%. For news and morning broadcasts, the quota for the Ukrainian language is 50% in the first year with a further increase to 60%.