“eBook” Program: Young People Bought 114,400 Books in Six Months
31 July 18:10
In the first half of 2026, 18-year-old Ukrainians submitted more than 64,800 applications for assistance under the “eBook” program, according to the Ukrainian Book Institute (UBI), as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
“During the first half of 2026, as part of the “eBook” program, 18-year-old Ukrainians purchased 114,361 books—an average of 629 books per day. This means that, on average, young Ukrainians managed to purchase 2.83 books each. In addition, 64,808 applications for financial assistance were received, of which 63,567 have already received funds in their accounts,” the UIB statement reads.
It is noted that when paying for books with “Diya” cards, young people prefer “Monobank”—60.11%, while “PrivatBank” and “A-Bank” receive significantly less attention—36.24% and 3.28%, respectively.
According to the Institute, 325 brick-and-mortar bookstores and 38 online bookstores are participating in the program.
“Young Ukrainians still tend to buy books at brick-and-mortar bookstores—56.87% of program participants choose them. At the same time, the share of those who prefer online shopping is growing every year and already stands at 43.13%,” the agency reported.
It is noted that Kyiv accounted for the largest volume of purchases at brick-and-mortar bookstores in 2026, followed in the ranking by Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Poltava regions.
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The book distribution platform Yakaboo took first place in the ranking of book distributors, followed by KSD, “Bookstore ‘Ye’,” “Megogo,” and “Bookland.” Among publishers, KSD took the lead, followed by BookChef, Vivat, “Ranok,” and RM.
“The top spot in the Top 50 Books ranking went to *Cat and Mouse: Book 1—The Pursuit of Adelina* Book 1: The Pursuit of Adelina” by Hayley D. Carlton, which displaced the 2025 leader, Colleen Hoover, and retained its status as the most popular author by number of books sold (among “eBook” participants) in 2026. Young people buy fiction the most, with nonfiction in second place,” the statement reads.
During the first half of 2026, Volodymyr Stanchyshyn (876 copies) continued to be the most popular Ukrainian author by number of books sold, followed by Illarion Pavliuk (580 copies) in second place and Andriy Semyankiv (390 copies) in third.
As previously reported, on December 16, 2024, the “eBook” service was launched in Ukraine, through which 18-year-old Ukrainians can receive 908 UAH from the government for books via the “Diya” app.
Throughout 2025, as part of the “eBook” program, 18-year-old Ukrainians purchased 434,808 books—approximately three books each.
In April, Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna predicted that the “eBook” program for parents of newborns would launch on July 1, 2026.
In late June, Deputy Minister of Culture Bohdana Laiuk stated that the “eBook” program for parents of newborns would likely not be ready to launch on July 1, but it should be operational in 2026.
Oleksandra Koval, acting director of the Ukrainian Book Institute (UBI), stated that the “eBook” program would be much more effective if it were expanded to include school-age children.
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