Culture Ministry says UCF is underfunded, seeks budget boost for 2026
The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine considers the Ukrainian Cultural Fund (UCF) to be underfunded and will request an increase in funding for 2026, First Deputy Minister Halyna Hryhorenko has said.
"As of today, we believe that the UCF is underfunded because they are trying to balance the UAH 150 million allocated to them for projects. They are actively seeking extrabudgetary funds, they have many partnerships that they have developed with both private business and local authorities, and are applying to various European funds. They are actively seeking extrabudgetary funds to provide opportunities for the cultural sector," Hryhorenko said in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine.
She added that the budget declaration for 2026 includes the same funding indicators for both the UCF and the Ukrainian Book Institute (UBI) as for previous years, noting that the Ministry of Culture will request more funds.
"According to the Ukrainian Book Institute, there is a question of directing funds to various programs. The largest program now is "eBook." As of today, more than 330,000 books have been purchased, more than 170,000 of our citizens have used this assistance. There is still a demand, but it is not as large as we predicted based on the statistical assessment of the number of 18-year-olds who have the right to apply for this program. Perhaps we will redirect some of these funds to other expenses, in particular, to replenish library funds," Hryhorenko said.
As reported, the state budget of Ukraine for 2025 provides for financing of UAH 250 million for the Ukrainian Cultural Fund (which is 15% more compared to 2024) and for the Ukrainian Book Institute - UAH 278.6 million for the popularization of Ukrainian literature and support for book publishing, including the implementation of the E-Book project.
