The Government entity “The Ukrainian Book Institute” (hereinafter referred to as the Institute) in order to promote 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 2025 Work Plan of the Government entity “The Ukrainian Book Institute” announces the launch of the support program for translations of Ukrainian literary works into other languages “Translate Ukraine 2025” (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;
- published by a Ukrainian publisher/publishers as of the date of application;
- to be fully completed and published by the end of 2025;
- 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:
- translations of Ukrainian literary works already translated and published in a particular foreign language in the relevant country ;
- translations of works not intended for general public (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:
- 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.
- Competence of the Publisher.
- Catalog on the Publisher’s website.
- Ability to promote the translation.
- Ability to carry out the distribution of the translation.
- 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.
- Translator’s awards and prizes.
Approximate terms and stages of the competition:
Stage I:
06 January - 10 February 2025: acceptance of applications and supporting documents from publishers;
09 January: webinar on how to fill in the applications
The webinar will be held in three stages to allow representatives of countries from different time zones to participate:
17:00 AEDT (08:00 Kyiv time) - https://meet.google.com/eqq-fwsi-nso
14:00 CET (15:00 Kyiv time) - https://meet.google.com/tds-hgvv-crq
10:00 PT (17:00 Kyiv time) - https://meet.google.com/bqb-dtfn-uvh
30 January: webinar on how to fill in the applications
17:00 AEDT (08:00 Kyiv time) - https://meet.google.com/kau-sbsk-gfn
14:00 CET (15:00 Kyiv time) - https://meet.google.com/nxi-stgn-uwh
10:00 PT (17:00 Kyiv time) - https://meet.google.com/oyf-pqpq-bxs
10 February - 21 February 2025: technical selection of applications and supporting documents;
21 February - 28 February 2025: publication of the results of the technical selection on the official website of the Institute.
Stage II:
24 February - 14 March 2025: evaluation of projects that have passed the technical selection by the Expert Council, meeting of the Expert Council;
14 March - 21 March 2025: posting of the list of winning projects on the official website of the Institute.
As part of the project support, the Institute reimburses the publisher’s expenses for:
-
acquisition of rights to translate a work of Ukrainian literature into another language or payment of monetary remuneration for their use (royalties)
-
creation of an object of intellectual property rights - translation of a work of Ukrainian literature into another language;
-
publication of a work of Ukrainian literature into other languages - editorial processing, preparation of the original layout, creation of an electronic edition.
The maximum amount of expenses reimbursed by the Institute to the publisher is EUR 8,000 or the equivalent in the national currency of Ukraine - UAH.
The Institute shall accept applications from the 6th January to 10th of February 2025.
Overdue applications, submitted after the date, stipulated in the announcement, shall not be considered.
Application
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 in a country of distribution except Ukraine.
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 2025. 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 via email. 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 in, or if inaccurate information is provided, the Publisher will not be allowed to the competitive selection.
The selection of translation projects shall be made by the Expert Council. The final list of projects winning the competitive selection (hereinafter referred to as the List) shall be determined by the Institute and published on the Institute’s website by 21 March 2025.
After the publication of the List, the Institute signs a contract (hereinafter referred to as the Contract) with each winner (hereinafter referred to as the 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. If the said expenses were made BEFORE the signing of the contract, the Institute shall not reimburse such expenses.
After signing the contract, the winner 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.
To avoid double taxation and in accordance with the budget legislation of Ukraine, the Institute does not reimburse the costs of 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 via email, as well as originals of documents to the Institute.
Regulation on the Translation Support Program “Translate Ukraine”
in Ukrainian – (link)
in English – (link)
Coordinators of the project:
Olena Odynoka
+380966078391
Bohdan Kyrychenko
