Key points
- In 2026, the Ministry of Culture will introduce subsidies for bookstores to cover rent.
- The subsidies were provided for by the 2022 law but have not yet been implemented.
- A program to replenish public library funds is planned.
- The initiative involves cooperation with communities.
- The new programs will be launched in a pilot format in mid-2026.
The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine plans to introduce state subsidies for bookstores for renting premises in 2026 and to launch a program to replenish public library funds. This was announced in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine by Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister Tetyana Berezhna.
According to Berezhna, the ministry is working on a draft program to replenish public library collections. This initiative involves co-financing with local communities and aims to expand access to contemporary literature in local libraries throughout the country.
There was an idea to replenish the funds of school and student libraries as well. However, a political consensus was reached that these two areas would be handled by the Ministry of Education and Science, as they have the appropriate budgets. We will be responsible for replenishing the funds of public libraries. We are currently conducting final consultations with the Ministry of Finance to get the programme up and running.
– Tetiana Berezhna.
The Deputy Prime Minister also reported that the Ministry of Culture has received many requests from bookstores regarding the need for rent subsidies, so the ministry is preparing the legal basis for the implementation of the relevant programme.
We can reallocate some of the funds for these needs and are preparing the legal basis for this.
– Tetiana Berezhna.
Responding to a question about whether UAH 200 million would be enough to implement these projects, Berezhna noted that this amount would be sufficient to launch the programmes in a pilot format.
The launch of the programmes in test mode is planned for mid-2026.
Then we will see the results for the first half of the year, what the dynamics of their use are, and we will be able to more accurately predict the budgets for 2027.
– Tetiana Berezhna.
The law on stimulating the development of Ukrainian book publishing and distribution, adopted in 2022, provided for such subsidies, but the programme has not yet been implemented.
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