Lviv city and oblast resolutions limit use of Russian language (07/02/00)

Lviv city and oblast resolutions limit use of Russian language

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - In the aftermath of the beating death of a well-known Ukrainian composer for singing Ukrainian songs, the Lviv Oblast Council and the Lviv City Council on June 19-20 issued separate resolutions that limit the use of the Russian language in the region.

They are the first resolutions in Ukraine that explicitly ban the use of Russian in public places and come at a time when the national government has begun to pay more serious attention to the language issue.

According to Interfax-Ukraine, Stepan Senchuk, head of the Lviv Oblast Council, said during a marathon session on June 20 that the Ukrainian language "needs serious investment right now."

During the session, the Lviv Oblast Council passed a resolution re-affirming Ukrainian as the national language of the region and issued a directive that makes mandatory the use of the Ukrainian language on all business documents, including blanks, forms and receipts. The document specifically refers to use of the Ukrainian language in public catering, trade, transport and public recreation.

In addition, the council resolution reduces the cost of obtaining a license for businesses manufacturing and selling Ukrainian-language video, audio and printed products to 1 percent of the standard fee.

A day earlier the Lviv City Council placed a moratorium on the broadcasting and playing of Russian-language songs on the streets and squares, and on public transportation. The moratorium, which resulted from political pressure by the right-wing organizations such as the Republican Party, the Social Nationalist Party and the Ukrainian National Assembly/Ukrainian National Self Defense (UNA-UNSO), will remain in effect until August 1. By that time the city council is to adopt a series of regulations to clarify its language policy and "the protection of the audio environment," reported Interfax-Ukraine.

The Republican Party announced the same day that it would organize volunteer patrols that would cooperate with local militia to enforce the law.

The drastic actions taken by both local and regional Lviv governments come after the death of the well-known Ukrainian composer Ihor Bilozir, who died on May 28 after he was beaten by two young males during an altercation near a Lviv cafe. The youths had initially heckled and argued with the composer and his companions over their singing of Ukrainian songs before assaulting him after he left the cafe later in the evening. The composer spent five weeks in a coma before succumbing to head injuries.

Mr. Bilozir attained fame as the leader of the western Ukrainian musical ensemble, Vatra, which was one of the most popular in Ukraine in the 1980s.

Only one of the two individuals involved in the incident has been arrested. He is the son of a high-ranking Lviv police official.

The composer's death resulted in a wave of violence in Lviv on the day of his death and again after his funeral on May 30 against establishments that play Russian music and have displays in the Russian language.

Ukraine, although free of Moscow's colonial and political domination and its policies of Russification for nearly nine years, has had a difficult time encouraging publication of Ukrainian-language printed matter and audio-video materials. Part of the problem lies in the country's economic problems, which have left publishing houses and manufacturing outlets bereft of financing. But another reason is a reluctance by politicians and businessmen to move away from the Russian language with which they are more comfortable and accustomed to.

Russian manufacturers have come to dominate the music, video and book publishing market in Ukraine. Today in Kyiv, the country's capital, it is virtually impossible to find Hollywood films with Ukrainian-language overdubs, although Russian language versions can be had in almost every street corner store. Although books are more plentiful, there is still a dire shortage of good Ukrainian-language literature in book stores and instructional textbooks for schools.

The Ukrainian central government has begun the tackle the problem and to make support for the development of the state language a priority. Several months ago it began work on a comprehensive law that would stimulate the use of the Ukrainian language in government offices. Currently, the Cabinet of Ministers also is finalizing a document that would give those who publish in the Ukrainian language tax privileges over those printed in other languages.

But Lviv has taken the lead in the re-Ukrainianization of the populace with its moves. Undoubtedly it will be easier to have the residents of this city accept the changes because it was within Moscow's sphere of domination for only some 45 years, a significantly shorter time than most of the country.

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