Russia will not revise publishing legislation amid looming book sanctions in Ukraine, federal publishing agency Rospechat said on Thursday.
Following announcement of Ukraine’s plans to license Russian books and introduce quotas, Rospechat said Russian legislation in this sphere was quite liberal.
“We have no licensing of publishing and printing at all. There are no barriers for foreign book import, and we have no plans to revise the rules,” said the press office.
Russian-Ukrainian publishing cooperation had been fruitful until now, with both countries presenting their books at each others’ book forums, said Rospechat chief Mikhail Seslavinsky. “In 2008, Ukraine was the honorary guest at the international book fair in Moscow, while Russia enjoyed the same status at the fair in Kiev in 2010 and was repeatedly represented at the fair in western Ukraine’s Lviv,” he said adding one should not forget about close ties between Ukrainian and Russian writers.
“It would be sad if, despite all this, Ukraine would impose a kind of book embargo, even if temporarily, evoking memories of the worst pages of 20th century history,” Seslavinsky said.