In Ukraine, from the beginning of 2023, newborns and 14-year-olds will be issued free certificates for Ukrainian publications in the amount of 0.3 subsistence minimum (lm) for able-bodied people (by the end of the year, this minimum will be increased from UAH 2,481 to 2684 UAH).
The relevant law “On Amendments to Certain Laws on Stimulating the Development of Ukrainian Book Publishing and Book Distribution” (No. 6287) was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on Sunday with 314 votes without discussion, according to information on its website.
In addition, the document provides for the payment of subsidies to specialized stores from April 1, 2023, in which 80% of revenue comes from book products.
After the adoption on January 25 in the first reading, when preparing the bill for the second, the amount of rental compensation was slightly increased: in Kyiv and international airports – from 0.3 to 0.35 linear meters, in territorial communities from 500 thousand – from 0.2 up to 0.25 l.m., from 100 to 500 thousand – from 0.16 to 0.2 l.m., from 30 to 100 thousand – from 0.08 to 0.12 l.m. and up to 30 thousand inhabitants – from 0.04 to 0.08 l.m.
At the same time, the rental area, the fee for which is subject to compensation, is limited from 50 m in small communities to 150 m in Kyiv.
The amount of the subsidy may also not be more than 20% of the income received from the sale of books in the relevant bookstore.
In the financial and economic justification section of the explanatory note for the first reading, it was noted that the amount of expenses from the state budget for providing subsidies to bookstores in 2023 will be from UAH 52 to 86 million.
