Ukrainian language not discriminated against - Ukraine PM
KYIV. Sept 4 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said the Ukrainian language is not discriminated against in Ukraine.
"There has been much speculation about the Ukrainian language's allegedly discriminated status. I am well familiar with the situation over the past ten years and I can say that the funding provided to the Ukrainian culture over the years when the Viktor Yanukovych government was in office and since I have been holding prime minister's post has increased manifold and is larger than during the reign of the most nationalist of the governments," he told Ukrainian Russian-language writer Andriy Kurkov in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Azarov said Ukrainian media's print runs in 2012 grew by 166% compared to 2011. The government provides sufficient funding to finance Ukrainian film production, he said.
"What is being said in connection with the adoption of the new language law is a distortion. People either have no information, or deliberately distort it," the prime minister said.
He also said that no pressure is being put on media in Ukraine. "Tell me, which newspaper in Ukraine is pro-government and popularizes or works for the government? I can pick 100 newspapers published in Ukraine and you will not find a single one that would praise the government," he said.
