“Grab-it” syndrome

At a press conference held on Friday, June 22, Oleksandr Afonin, president of the Ukrainian Association of Publishers and Book Distributors, announced that Mystetstvo, Alaton, Oberehy, Ukrainska entsyklopediia, Knyha pamiati, Medychna knyha, the Znannia bookstore, the editorial office of the journal Raduha, and other Ukrainian book-publishing and distributing organizations are about to be evicted from their premises on orders from the Kyiv City State Administration.

“President Viktor Yushchenko proclaimed this year the Year of Ukrainian Books, but instead of words of welcome publishing companies and books stores are increasingly often served eviction notices. The Kyiv municipal authorities are trying to make money by destroying cultural institutions. For example, artists are being evicted from their studios that they have occupied for decades on Andriivsky uzviz. The possibility of evicting the Folk Crafts Union from its premises at 20 Reitarska Street is being considered at City Hall; the unfinished building of the National Art Museum at 3 Instytutska Street has already been sold. Alaton, Oberehy, Knyha pamiati, and many other publishing companies — particularly those located downtown — have been served eviction notices.”

Volodymyr Ponomarenko, director general of Alaton, says that his company started having problems after a visit from an official representing Mayor Chernovetsky, allegedly to check whether the premises were being used for their designated purpose. Then the company received a letter instructing it to vacate the premises (at 14-H Yaroslaviv Val Street, which they have occupied for more than 12 years) instead of renewing the lease. According to city officials, the reason was that the limited liability publishing company Svit knyzhok won the tender.

“That tender was held behind closed doors, so we had no chance to bid,” Ponomarenko says, “despite the fact that Alaton has functioned here for 15 years, publishing textbooks and manuals that are used by schoolchildren in every region of Ukraine. We have been also filling government contracts. As for Svit knyzhok, this limited liability company is not even listed as a book publisher in the state register or in any official reference source. It was founded in January 2007 and has since won the tender for the premises at 148 Zhelianska Street. Now it is after our building. I suspect that this company specializes in winning lease tenders, so that it can get hold of such buildings and then privatize them.”

After receiving the eviction notice, Alaton sued the Kyiv City State Administration. Now it is waiting for a just ruling. Before this point was reached, the company wrote numerous letters to the municipal and state authorities — to no avail.

At the press conference, Natalia Okhmakevych, the head of the Oberehy publishing company, described the policy of the capital’s administration as an act of cultural genocide. She said that her company leased a semi-basement on Saksahansky Street many years ago. The place was a shambles. After “raising it from ruins,” the company is now being shown the door. “We weren’t even invited to the tender and received a formal letter to make our bid after the tender had taken place.”

The situation with Urozhai is no better. This publishing company was gradually crowded out of its premises by a powerful neighbor, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine. Today, instead of publishing books, the company is struggling to survive.

The head of the Ukrainian Association of Publishers and Book Distributors has this analysis: “The Kyiv municipal government is afflicted with the grab-it syndrome. Eager to earn more, it is selling off parts of the public cultural domain. If this practice continues, the younger generation will find itself left with restaurants and one-armed bandits, at best. Well, maybe also fireworks displays on Khreshchatyk Street.”