"Complete Ukrainization” what awaits Russian-language services and online stores and when the service sector should switch to Ukrainian

On January 16, a clause of the law on the functioning of the Ukrainian language comes into force. The law itself was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on April 16, 2019, but it was the point related to the service sector and trade that was supposed to come into force 18 months after the law was adopted, that is, on January 16, 2021.

What should businesses and online stores do? What restrictions and measures are waiting for services and companies that do not plan to obey this law, and how much time do entrepreneurs have to fully Ukrainize their business? We will answer these and many other questions in this article. Let's start!
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When will the law come into force and which structures are required to work in Ukrainian

The regulation on the translation into Ukrainian of the service and trade sector as a whole begins to function on January 16, 2021. Despite active calls for action, this law does not provide precise data on which specific businesses are required to operate in Ukrainian. Instead of specifics, rather General concepts are used, which nevertheless tell us that all forms of management, including FOP and others, fall under this law. All organizations in the service sector, such as cinemas, institutions, and others, as well as all organizations that provide goods, services, or descriptions of them, are required to provide services in the state language.

It should be borne in mind that despite the imminent entry into force of this law, since the adoption of its main provision, all constitutional courts have adhered to the prosecution's side. On the part of the prosecution, consumers complained that they were not served in the state language. And although previously there was no clear penalty for this, from the point of view of the court, such a consumer was right.

Unlike before, this law will soon have a very specific measure of punishment, which we will talk about later. in the meantime, let's figure out who this law may affect and what business owners should do in the field of sales and services

Who will be affected by this law and what should business owners do

To the great regret of owners of establishments and businessmen working in the field of sales, there is still no specific list of types of enterprises and companies that must comply with this law without question. This suggests that in order to avoid unpleasant situations, it is better to prepare absolutely all areas that are somehow related to customer service. But what should be done and how to prepare your business for the entry into force of this law? There are several steps that are definitely worth taking in order not to risk breaking the new law once again, namely:

1. Preparing the pages of your site or online store for full translation

Despite the fact that this law assumes that you are obliged to serve your potential customers exclusively in Ukrainian, the law does not say a word about the possible availability of an alternative. In theory, you don't need to cause additional inconvenience to your target audience. You only need to translate the site or online store, and leave it up to the user to choose what language they want to be served in. This feature has been working in the banking system for more than a year and shows itself perfectly, because the user decides in which language it will be more comfortable for him to get the service he needs and in which language he wants to get the information he needs. This step will help you not lose part of your target audience, which is more accustomed to receiving information in Russian, and at the same time, you will follow the requirements of this law, because your site will provide information and serve potential customers in the state language by default.

2. translation of the resource into the state language

The second point is the translation of the resource itself. Here you are free to choose for yourself how it is more convenient for you to perform this procedure, manually, or by contacting professionals. If you have the necessary knowledge and a lot of time — you can translate your online store and its catalog yourself, but if the total volume of your resource's catalog exceeds your time resources — you can contact the gloss web Studio to reorganize your online resource.

Glyanec Studio can help you with this situation by simultaneously formatting your Internet resource to fit the framework required for the Ukrainian language, as well as conducting remarketing or updating the design of your Internet resource, if this is of course required. Employees of the gloss website creation Studio can help you adapt your Internet resource for use on mobile devices. The Studio can also create for you a completely new turnkey online store that already meets modern legal requirements-if you are just looking for a Studio of professionals who can bring your ideas to life. In addition to adapting Internet resources for use with mobile devices, Glyanec Studio can also create a website for you based on the principle of First Mobile Design, which shows excellent indicators for both traffic and user conversion. In order to order the service you need and generally get acquainted with the services provided by gloss web Studio, you just need to go to the Studio's website and visit the corresponding tab.

Penalties or what will happen to services that refuse to comply with this law

Due to the fact that this bill is already partially functioning and its last part will start working very soon, it also provides for penalties. It is not yet clear exactly how the checks on compliance with this law will be carried out, but it is known that a fine of 200 to 700 non-taxable subsistence minimums is provided for its violation, which is approximately from 3,400 to 11,900 UAH. However, there are some inconsistencies in the issue of fines, because these fines will be put into operation only in April 2022.

As for fines specifically for today, from January 2021, administrative fines for non-compliance with this law should be from 300 to 400 non-taxable subsistence minimums, which is from 5100 to 6800 UAH for repeated violations during the year. It is also not clear which specific body will monitor compliance with this law, because the bill States that the Commissioner for the protection of the state language will monitor its implementation. This statement runs counter to constitutional law and is hotly debated in legal circles. As for what exactly this Institution will look like and what can be expected from the Commissioners for the protection of the state language, we will be able to find out very soon.

How to avoid possible fines and what should be translated into the official language in addition to the site
Despite the fact that the main text of the law deals specifically with the service and trade sector, which implies a complete translation of all pages of the site, as well as product descriptions into the state language, do not forget about advertising companies and E-mail newsletters. Both tools used for the development and promotion of your Internet resource are also subject to this law, which means they must be translated into the state language.

This is not the best news for businessmen and owners of Internet resources focused mainly on the Russian-speaking community, however, you should not even think about non-compliance with this law, because the penalties for non-compliance can change quite dramatically, and this in turn can cause irreparable harm to your business.

In order to protect your business as much as possible and avoid being penalized for non-compliance with certain provisions of this law, we strongly recommend that you carefully consider your advertising companies and translate them into the state language until the law fully comes into force.

In order not to lose in the indicators of your Internet resource, we recommend that you conduct a second study of your target audience in order to find Ukrainian-language keywords and search queries. The ideal solution for you is to launch advertising campaigns in the state language right now, especially if you were planning to launch several advertising companies in the near future.

With the results of research of your target audience, you can not only get the keywords you need, but also assess the situation in the Ukrainian-speaking market and roughly imagine what awaits you with the full transition of your service to Ukrainian. With this data, you will be able to further build strategies for the development of your online store, and ways to attract new potential customers.

Web Studio Glyanec can help you with the issue of attracting new potential buyers and working with your target audience. Marketers of the website design Studio Glyanec will conduct all the necessary research regarding your target audience and segment it in such a way that you can easily choose the segment of potential buyers that interests you the most. In addition to segmenting and working with your target audience, the gloss team can help you design and launch competent contextual advertising that will not only be attractive to your target audience, but will also meet all legal requirements. If you need to create a turnkey online store, work with your target audience, or update the design of your online resource, you can contact representatives of the Glyanec Studio using the data from the contacts tab, or order the service you need by going to the corresponding page on the Studio's website. In order to get acquainted with the full list of services of the gloss Studio, you just need to visit the Studio's website and choose exactly what you need.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, given the rapid launch of this draft law, owners of online stores and other businesses that are somehow connected with the sphere of sales and services need to prepare their personnel and services for strict checks by government agencies. What exactly is waiting for business in Ukraine after the adoption of this law and whether the measures of suppression will change, we will be able to find out only after this provision comes into force. Now, all that remains for the owners of Internet resources focused on the Ukrainian market is to adapt their sites and online stores to the launch of this provision as much as possible and patiently wait for the first results of this law. We will be able to find out very soon whether it will change and how consumers will react to it.