In Ukraine, there are proposals to significantly increase fines for Russian music

An online petition has been submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine demanding that administrative penalties for violating the legal ban on the use of musical content from the aggressor state in public spaces be significantly increased. The petition proposes fines of up to 170,000 hryvnias.

The authors of the petition emphasize that the current penalties are too low and do not ensure proper enforcement of the law. 

Currently, Part 2 of Article 15 of the Law of Ukraine “On Culture” completely prohibits the public performance of Russian musical works; however, Article 155 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses provides for a fine of only 17 to 170 hryvnias for such violations. 

The initiators of the appeal emphasize that such a meager penalty does not serve a preventive or punitive function and effectively allows certain citizens and businesses to ignore the rules; and therefore call on the government to draft and submit to parliament a bill to radically increase financial penalties. According to the text of Petition No. 41/010180-26ep, it is proposed to set fines for individuals at a level ranging from 17,000 to 34,000 hryvnias, and for legal entities—from 85,000 to 170,000 hryvnias for the first detected violation. For any subsequent violation of the ban within a year, the petition proposes imposing fines at double the amount, and for businesses and institutions, in the event of systematic violations, it proposes an additional penalty in the form of a temporary suspension of operations for up to 90 days. The petition’s authors insist that, in the context of ongoing aggression by the Russian Federation, the state must implement effective mechanisms to protect the national cultural space.

Official details of the proposal and the text of the corresponding petition have been published on the government portal of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.