The mayor of Kharkiv must pay a fine for using the Russian language

Language ombudsman Taras Kremin issued a resolution imposing a fine on Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov for violating the language law.

The Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language informed about this on his Facebook page.

According to the resolution, Terekhov used non-state language in his appeals to the residents of Kharkiv on the air of the telethon, thus violating the first part of Article 12 of the Law "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State".

Now he has to pay a fine of UAH 3 400.

Also, the mayor of Kharkiv received a warning from the language ombudsman for maintaining Facebook and Telegram pages in Russian. Until December 4, Terekhov can appeal both resolutions.

• On July 16, 2019, the law on the state language came into force in Ukraine, which guarantees the use of the Ukrainian language in public administration, the service sector, education and media. At the same time, the law does not restrict private communication in all languages and the free use of the languages of national minorities.
• From January 16, 2021, Ukrainian became the language of service for consumers in the service sector.
• On July 16, 2022, the language ombudsman was given the opportunity to impose fines for violations of the language law. The amount of the fine is from UAH 3 400 to UAH 8 500 hryvnias, if the violation is committed for the first time, and from UAH 8 500 to UAH 11 900 for a repeated violation.