The government of Ivano-Frankivsk decided not to finance the activities of language inspectors from the city budget. This information was provided by the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council in response to a request from “Ukrainian News”.
According to the official response, as of September 20, language inspectors have not yet started their work. In addition, the city authorities noted that no funds are allocated from the budget for the payment of language patrols or their functioning, and such expenses are not provided for in the city’s financial plans.
It also became known that the executive committee of the city council has not yet developed and approved an official regulation on the activities of language inspectors.
The prerequisite for this initiative was the statement of the mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv on September 10, in which he announced plans to introduce language inspectors as part of a public initiative. Marcinkiv held a meeting with language ombudsman Taras Kremen, at which the possibilities of popularizing the Ukrainian language were discussed, in particular through social advertising and educational events.
The mayor emphasized that the inspectors will not punish residents for using the Russian language, but instead will promote the popularization of Ukrainian language courses and will call for the use of the state language in the city in a tolerant manner.
Language ombudsman Taras Kremin supported the initiative to create a language inspection, noting that there is a problem of a large number of signs in English in the city.
