page_title: Petro Poroshenko
section_title: Language policy
hierarchical_section_title: Petro Poroshenko / Presidency / Domestic policy / Language policy
caption_attribution_description: English: Poroshenko signing the law "On provision of the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the State language"
context_page_description: Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the 5th President of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019.
  He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2010, and as the Minister of Trade and Economic Development in 2012. From 2007 until 2012, Poroshenko headed the Council of Ukraine's National Bank.
  Outside government, Poroshenko has been a prominent Ukrainian oligarch with a lucrative career in acquiring and building assets. His most recognized brands are Roshen, the large-scale confectionery company which has earned him the nickname of "Chocolate King", and the TV news channel 5 kanal. Due to the scale of his business holdings in the manufacturing, agriculture and financial sectors, his political influence that included several stints at government prior to his presidency, and ownership of an influential mass-media outlet, Poroshenko has long been considered one of the prominent Ukrainian oligarchs even though not the most influential among them.
  He was elected president on 25 May 2014, capturing 54.7% of the vote in the first round, thereby winning outright and avoiding a run-off.
context_section_description: In 2016, a New rule came into force requiring Ukraine's radio stations to play a quota of Ukrainian-language songs each day. The law also requires TV and radio broadcasters to ensure 60% of programs such as news and analysis are in Ukrainian.
  
  On 25 September 2017, a new law on education was signed by President Poroshenko (draft approved by Rada on 5 September 2017) which says that the Ukrainian language is the language of education at all levels except for one or more subjects that are allowed to be taught in two or more languages, namely English or one of the other official languages of the European Union. The law stipulates a 3-year transitional period to come in full effect. In February 2018 this period was extended until 2023. The law was condemned by PACE that called it "a major impediment to the teaching of national minorities". The law also faced criticism from officials in Hungary, Romania and Russia. (Hungarian and Romanian are official languages of the European Union, Russian is not.) Ukrainian officials stressed that the new law complies fully with European norms on minority rights. 
   The law does state that "Persons belonging to indigenous peoples of Ukraine are guaranteed the right to study in public facilities of preschool and primary education in the language of instruction of the respective indigenous people, along with the state language of instruction" in separate classes or groups. PACE describes this as a significant curtailing of the rights of indigenous peoples carried out without consultations with their representatives. On 27 June 2018 Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin stated that following the recommendation of the Venice Commission the language provision of the (September 2017) law on education will not apply to private schools and that every public school for national minorities "will have broad powers to independently determine which classes will be taught in Ukrainian or their native language."
  On 15 May 2019, Poroshenko signed the law "On provision of the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the State language"
caption: Poroshenko and Andriy Parubiy signing the law "On provision of the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the State language".
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark IV", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 11.2 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2019:05:15 15:56:48", "Image ExifOffset": "218", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "876", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "12992", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1600", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "1600", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:05:15 14:46:44", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:05:15 14:46:44", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "540241/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "209759/62500", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "102", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "86", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "86", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "61166933/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "61166933/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "183056002711", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[70, 200, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000c378b5"}