Up to 170,000 hryvnias in fines: the Rada wants to ban Russian-language music in establishments

The language ombudsman will monitor music in establishments: what deputies propose

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22 Jul 2026

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A Verkhovna Rada registered a bill that provides for a ban on Russian-language musical accompaniment during customer service. The document will apply to cafes, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Bill No.15430 was registered on 20 July 2026, and on 22 July it was sent for consideration to the parliamentary Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy. The initiators of the document were 16 people’s deputies. The authors propose to establish that musical accompaniment in the service sector may be in Ukrainian or any other language, except the state or official language of a country that the Verkhovna Rada has recognized as an aggressor state or an occupying state.

The restrictions are planned to apply to the performance and reproduction of songs, musical works with lyrics, phonograms, videograms and music videos. The provision that allows switching to another language during service at the customer’s request will not apply to musical accompaniment.

For violations, the following fines are proposed:

for the first time — from 8,500 to 17,000 hryvnias;
for a repeat offense within a year — from 17,000 to 85,000 hryvnias;
for the third and each subsequent violation — from 85,000 to 170,000 hryvnias.

Enforcement of the requirements is proposed to be controlled by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language and his representatives. They will be able to draw up protocols without prior warning of the establishment or a requirement to first eliminate the violation.

In the explanatory note the authors state that Russian-language popular music is used by the Russian Federation as an instrument of cultural and informational influence. In addition, the payment of royalties through rights holders, labels and distributors can bring profits to Russian performers. For now this is only a bill. It is being processed in the relevant committee and has not yet come into force. To introduce the new rules the document must go through parliamentary consideration, be adopted by the Verkhovna Rada and signed by the President.

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