Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
World

Ukraine may give English status of business language -prime minister

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian Prime Minister and head of the country's delegation Denys Shmyhal attends a joint news conference after an EU-Ukraine Association Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium February 11, 2021. Francois Walschaerts/Pool via REUTERS

The Ukrainian government is working on legislation that would designate English as the language of business communication, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said late on Monday.

"English is now used in business communication throughout the civilized world, so giving it such a status in Ukraine will promote business development, attract investment and accelerate Ukraine's European integration," Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram messaging app without detailing what the law would entail.

Ukrainian is the sole official language of the country. About a half of the population speaks mostly or only Ukrainian and some 30% speak mostly or only Russian, according to a 2019 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

English proficiency has been improving in the country, which before the Feb. 24 Russian invasion had a population of 44 million, but Ukraine still trails some of its Eastern European peers.

According to the Sweden-based international education company EF Education First, English proficiency in Ukraine is only "moderate." In 2021, the country placed 30 out of 35 surveyed countries in Europe, lagging behind Poland and Belarus.

Russian plays a large role in business and the media. And it is still very widely spoken in many cities, including Kyiv, although the use of Russian has been increasingly restricted. Legislation obliges businesses and other institutions to use Ukrainian.

(Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.