Law of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian language”, what does a business owner need to know?
Law of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian language”, the consequences for the re-registration of the charter?
The Law of Ukraine “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language”, which entered into force on the territory of our country on January 16, 2021, led to numerous disputes. If everything is clear for state structures (everything should work in Ukrainian), then there are many disputes among entrepreneurs. Especially, the media add fuel to the fire. Many LLC have names in foreign languages, often in English, Russian. Most also have the official Internet resource of the company with a link to the Russian version. The founders rushed en masse to re-register the company’s charter, so that everything was in the state language. It is believed that in this way the firm will avoid a fine. But in reality, this is not worth doing!
The aforementioned law clearly states that it is necessary to advertise goods, services and serve customers in the state language. If everything is clear with the last thesis, then advertising needs to be considered deeper. PR of products is an official offer to citizens of a certain territory to buy a particular product or service. The link to the promoted product should lead the client to the Ukrainian version. If in the charter of an LLC, in other documents there is a link to a Russian-language page that is not advertised, you do not need to change or delete it!
What changes should be made to the USR according to the Law of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian language”?
As you know, all information about a legal entity in the USR database of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is displayed only in Ukrainian. Even if there are foreigners among the founders, their personal data are also indicated in the state language and cannot be changed. The name of the organization can be duplicated in the Latin alphabet. Here you should pay attention only to the line with contacts and links to the company’s websites. If Russian or any other version is indicated, then it should be replaced or deleted altogether. It is also worth remembering that for some companies the name is spelled out in Ukrainian letters, but the word itself may be clearly Russian or English. There is no single answer to this question. The law says that it is impossible to distort Ukrainian words, everything must be stated in a literary style. So, here everything is given to the personal opinion of the inspector and the ombudsman. Although from a legal point of view, such a case is in court, if it gets there, it will quickly fall apart.
What changes do not need to be made to the USR according to the Law of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian language”?
We go in the order of the records of information about the legal entity in the USR database (what is marked without changes – X, where transformations are possible is marked with –V):
- Full and abbreviated name of the legal entity – X;
- Organizational and legal form – X;
- The name of the company – X;
- Identification code – X;
- Local authority that has a direct or indirect influence on the firm – X;
- Location – X;
- Authorized capital – X;
- Founders – X;
- Beneficiaries – X;
- Economic activities – X;
- Manager – X;
- Title of the statutory document – X;
- Date of registration after 2014 – X;
- Date of registration before 2014 – X;
- Data about branches – X;
- Information about the bankruptcy process – X;
- Information about the liquidation process – X;
- Data on the death of one of the participants in the enterprise – X;
- Judicial decisions on the liquidation of the company – X;
- Date of liquidation of the organization – X;
- Date of cancellation of liquidation – X;
- The name of the assignee – X;
- Assignee code – X;
- Location of the registration file – X;
- Registration authorities – X;
- Date of opening of enforcement proceedings – X;
- Information for communication with the company – V.
Conclude and a legal opinion on the Law of Ukraine “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as a state language” for the service sector:
- Any external advertising of goods and services must be carried out with a link to the Ukrainian-language official Internet resource;
- Advertisements on the Internet can be placed in any language;
- It is necessary to serve clients in the state language, but at the request of the client, you can switch to any other.
- Google Map of the enterprise must be in Ukrainian;
- The company website must have a Ukrainian version.