Language inspectors start working on a voluntary basis in Ivano-Frankivsk
25 October 2024 14:58
Розбір від 
The first “language inspectors” – volunteers – are to officially start working in Ivano-Frankivsk on Monday, 28 October. This was announced by the mayor of the city, Ruslan Martsinkiv, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
The day before, the mayor met with language volunteers.
“Thank you to everyone who has volunteered and has even started inspections,” the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk said to the volunteers.
Ruslan Martsinkiv and invited experts from various fields spoke in more detail about the mission of the language inspectors. In addition, the volunteers were given special certificates. Several volunteers immediately started their inspections, starting with grocery stores.
The mayor told the local TV channel Vezha that there were many young people among the volunteers who had volunteered to patrol the city. In total, 40 people have expressed a desire to become a language inspector.
“I expected it to be mostly older people, but there are a lot of young progressive people. Interestingly, one third of them are internally displaced persons,” said Martsinkiv.
How to become a language inspector on a voluntary basis
Those who still want to join the language volunteers should fill out the application form here.
How the language inspection will be carried out
The mayor assured that the mission of the inspectors will be more educational, they will not punish the use of Russian, instead they will promote Ukrainian language courses, distribute leaflets, monitor compliance with language legislation or join educational events.
During the inspections, it is prohibited to use physical force, foul language or impoliteness in conversation. If volunteers find a violation, they will record it on a photo or video. After a legal assessment of the violations, appropriate measures will be taken with the participation of the city’s Department of Economics and Labour. They will send official letters to the owners of shops, cafes or other establishments with recommendations to eliminate the violations. And systemic violations will be reported to the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language.
What punishment awaits violators of language legislation
Language Ombudsman Taras Kremin is quite offensive. He said so in an interview with journalists: “gentle Ukrainisation has been replaced by offensive Ukrainisation”. As Taras Kremin explained, offensive Ukrainisation involves strict control over compliance with the language law in all spheres of public life in Ukraine without exception.
The law requires that Ukrainian be the main language in service, education, advertising, media and public events. According to the provisions, the first violation is punishable only by a warning, which allows the violator to remedy the situation without financial consequences. However, in the event of repeated disregard for the law, organisations or individuals will be fined up to UAH 3,400.
How common are violations of the language law?
This year, 1808 appeals from citizens regarding violations of the language law were recorded in Ukraine. According to OpendataMedia, this is 1.7 times less than in the same period last year.
Most Ukrainians complain about the lack of a Ukrainian version of the website – 29%. Service in Russian was the reason for 16% of complaints. Another 14% of violations are related to advertising.
This year’s anti-rating of regions includes:
– Kyiv – 706 complaints.
– Odesa region – 326
– Kharkiv region – 149
– Dnipro region – 148.
Another conclusion drawn by OpendataMedia is that the number of appeals has decreased, while the number of punishments has increased. Thus, 216 reports were drawn up against violators of the language law this year. This is already 1.7 times more than in all of 2023.
So far, 64 fines have been imposed and 91 warnings have been issued.
