The Government entity “The Ukrainian Book Institute” (hereinafter referred to as the Institute) in order to promote Ukrainian literature abroad, increase visibility of Ukraine and Ukrainian literature on the international cultural realm, according to the Procedure of the use of funds, envisaged in the state budget so that the Ukrainian Book Institute could support book publishing industry and promote Ukrainian literature in the world, the Regulation on the Translation Support Program for translations of Ukrainian literary works into other languages (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation) and the 2024 Work Plan of the Government entity “The Ukrainian Book Institute” approved by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and enacted by the Order of the Ukrainian Book Institute dated 19 January 2024 No. 05-od, announces the launch of the support program for translations of Ukrainian literary works into other languages “Translate Ukraine 2024” (hereinafter referred to as the Program) and invites foreign and/or Ukrainian publishers (hereinafter referred to as the Publisher), willing to translate, publish and distribute Ukrainian literary works in other countries, to submit applications for the participation in the Program.
For participation in the competitive selection, the Institute shall consider projects of the translations of contemporary Ukrainian literature or works of public domain:
- written in Ukrainian;
- already published by a Ukrainian publisher as of the date of application;
- to be fully completed and published by the end of 2024;
- to be published with the print run of at least 300 copies.
The applications for projects implemented in the frame of the program in previous years shall not be accepted for consideration in the following cases:
- already translated and published in a particular foreign language in the relevant country translations of Ukrainian literary works;
- not intended for general public translations of works (production and practical, regulatory, reference, advertising, and leisure books);
- translations created (or to be created) via a pivot language.
The applications for the competitive selection shall not be accepted from publishers:
- having violated their contractual obligations to the Institute in the previous year;
- whose ultimate beneficial owners are citizens of the aggressor state, whose founders and/or ultimate beneficial owners have been subject to sanctions according to the Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions.”
Priority directions:
Classical and contemporary Ukrainian literature, in particular literature addressing Russia’s war against Ukraine, decolonization, the history of Ukraine in different periods, Ukrainian culture, traditions, and daily life, etc.
The competitive selection shall be conducted in two stages.
At the first stage of the competitive selection, the Institute shall process the received applications and documents within 10 working days from the date of the registration of applications in compliance with the requirements specified in Clauses 7–9 of the Regulation; compile a list of applications and submit it for consideration to the Expert Council.
At the second stage, the Expert Council shall evaluate the projects based on the criteria outlined in the Regulation on the Expert Council for the selection of projects for translations of Ukrainian literature into other languages, namely:
I. Literary quality of the project.
- Significance of the work based on the artistic quality of the text, idea, theme, and public resonance.
- Literary awards received in Ukraine and abroad.
- Translations of the work into other languages.
II. Competence of the Publisher.
- Catalog on the Publisher’s website.
- Ability to promote the translation.
- Ability to carry out the distribution of the translation.
III. Competence of the translator.
- Proficiency of the translator in the language into which the work shall be translated.
- Experience in translation, including from other languages.
- Number of published translations from Ukrainian.
In the frame of the project support, the Institute shall provide compensation of the Publisher’s expenses:
- to purchase rights for the translation of the Ukrainian literary work into foreign language or receive remuneration for the use of such rights (royalty);
- to produce the object of the intellectual property right — translation of the Ukrainian literary work into a foreign language;
- to publish the Ukrainian literary work in foreign languages — editing, layout, electronic version.
The maximum amount of expenses to be compensated by the Institute to the Publisher is EUR 8,000 or the equivalent of this sum in the national currency of Ukraine, hryvnia.
The Institute shall accept applications from 12th of February to 10th of March 2024.
Overdue applications, submitted after the date, stipulated in the announcement, shall not be considered.
Application
Application form, documents to be attached to the application and the reporting form – (link)
In order to participate in the competitive selection, the Publisher shall submit the application in English to the Institute based on the form in this Regulation, attaching the following documents:
- Translator’s CV;
- Copy of the contract with the translator signed by both parties;
- Copy of the contract with the Ukrainian right holder signed by both parties or copies of the contracts with all the Ukrainian right holders, signed by both parties in case of the translation of anthology, prepared by the foreign publisher;
If the Ukrainian right holder is represented by a foreign contractor, a contract between the Ukrainian right holder and the third party shall also be included.
The contract with the Ukrainian right holder shall not be included for projects for the translation of works of public domain.
The budget estimate shall be prepared in accordance with market prices in the relevant country.
- English-language reference on key provisions of the contracts executed in other languages and attached to the application;
- English-language reference on the Publisher in regard to the publication of the translations of Ukrainian literary works, promotional events, and book distribution network.
Such reference shall be executed in English or in Ukrainian and cover the participant’s activities related to the publication of translations of Ukrainian literature, promotional efforts, and distribution, as well as information about the publication to be translated.
The translator’s CV, the calculation of expenses and references shall be submitted in accordance with forms, stipulated in this Announcement.
The Publisher shall also submit:
- copies of legal documents confirming the registration of the Publisher as a business entity engaged in publishing, and copies of documents confirming the authority of the individual authorized by the participant to sign the contract;
- a bank statement confirming the Publisher’s Euro account with all necessary details, including correspondent bank details, IBAN, and SWIFT code.
If the project submitted by the Publisher to the program is co-funded by another organization, to avoid double financing, the Publisher must provide a letter of agreement from the respective organization regarding co-financing, specifying the amount and category of expenses.
Documents shall be submitted in English. In the case of providing documents in other languages, translations of these documents into Ukrainian/English must be attached. Such texts should be authentic and confirmed by the Publisher’s signature.
The Institute reserves the right to request additional information from the Publisher.
The Publisher is responsible for the accuracy of the information provided in the application and the attached documents.
The application and all accompanying documents, as per the list, should be submitted separately for each project.
There is no limitation on the number of applications submitted by a single publisher.
Submitting of the application
The Publisher shall send signed applications, scanned copies of contracts, and certificates in PDF format exclusively to the email address [email protected], all in one email, with each document as a separate file. The email subject should be specified as "Translate Ukraine 2024. Application." The Publisher will receive a confirmation email from the Institute acknowledging the receipt and registration of the application. If such an email is not received within 10 working days from the date of the application, the Publisher should notify the Institute via email: [email protected].
Should the application and documents not comply with the requirements specified in Clauses 7–9 of this Regulation, the Institute notifies the Publisher through electronic means of communication. The Publisher shall have the right to submit a corrected application, taking into account the comments, no later than 5 working days from the date of the receipt of the notification.
The corrected application and documents shall be reviewed within 5 working days.
If an incomplete set of documents is submitted with the application, or if they are not properly filled out, or if inaccurate information is provided, the Publisher will not be allowed to the competitive selection.
The final list of projects winning the competitive selection (hereinafter referred to as the List) will be determined by the Institute and published on the Institute’s website by the 15th of May 2024.
After the publication of the List, the Institute signs a contract with each winner of the competitive selection for the implementation of the project.
The Institute reserves the right to demand expenses reduction for reimbursement.
The winner can make payments for editing, proofreading, layout, and conversion of the electronic book only upon signing the contract with the Institute.
After signing the contract, the winner of the competitive selection shall send the signed original contract and its appendices to the Institute.
Expenses shall be reimbursed:
If the project expenses do not exceed the maximum expenditure limit (EUR 8,000), the Institute shall reimburse the specified expenses as indicated in the application.
If the project expenses exceed the maximum expenditure limit (EUR 8,000), the Institute shall partially reimburse these expenses, up to the amount equal to the maximum expenditure limit.
According to the contract terms the Institute shall reimburse project expenses after the winner’s submitted reports are approved and the completion of work is confirmed by signing an Act of Completion.
Reimbursement is carried out in euros for foreign Publishers and in hryvnias for Ukrainian ones.
The Institute does not reimburse taxes and fees.
Please note that the reimbursement of expenses to publishers shall take into account the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) determined by the government of Ukraine, as specified in the Law of Ukraine "On Sanctions."
Requirements for the project completion report
On each project, the winner must submit to the Institute a report in English, using the form specified in the Announcement, along with supporting documents as indicated in the report form (bank statements translated into English), in the manner, within the deadlines, and under the conditions specified in the contract.
Receipts for cash payments made to contractors shall not be accepted.
A printed edition of the books shall be attached to the report according to the requirements specified in the contract.
Reporting documents shall be accepted within the timeframe specified in the contract.
The winner shall send scanned copies of documents signed by the authorized person of the winner by email, as well as originals of documents to the official postal address of the Institute.
Regulation on the Translation Support Program “Translate Ukraine» – (link)
Application form, documents to be attached to the application and the reporting form – (link)
Applications are accepted only by e-mail: [email protected]
If you have any questions, please contact us using the e-mail:
or by phone: +380 93 401 49 86
Responsible person: Anhelina Trofymchuk [email protected]
