Ukraine hopes that from 1 January, when Poland takes over the EU presidency, a new chapter will begin in relations between the state and the bloc. This includes integration into the cultural space and cooperation with the EU in the field of culture and media.
This was stated by Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Andriy Nadzos at the international conference-showcase Cultural Relations between Ukraine and the EU: Results of 2024, organised by the EU Creative Europe Programme Office in Ukraine. He noted that Ukraine brings its own authenticity and culture to the European cultural space and is committed to doing so in the future.
"The only 'competitor' with whom we are fighting for the right to be a nation with a deep history is a country that destroys us every day and wants to seize not only the territory, but destroy our identity. There are no such problems in the European family," the Deputy Minister said.
He thanked the EU for opening a large number of programmes for Ukraine, including Creative Europe.
The Creative Europe programme is a manifestation of Ukraine's European integration aspirations and is integrative both within the EU and all associated partner countries.
At the event, Tetyana Shulga, Sectoral Manager for Culture at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, said that the bloc has supported hundreds of Ukrainian projects so far.
The support was provided at three levels: Creative Europe with the involvement of European partners, at the level of the EU4Culture regional programme, and numerous grants provided directly to Ukrainian organisations.
"Over these seven years, we can truly say that cooperation in the cultural sector continues to grow," Shulga said.
At the event, Sonya Koshkina, editor-in-chief of LB.ua, shared her experience of creating an innovative donation system for the journalistic community.
In 2023, a consortium was formed with other European media and journalistic organisations to implement the project.
The Taktak project is building a new payment solution designed by and for media organizations and journalists. It is supported by the Creative Europe program of the European Union.
Taktak aims to generate new revenue streams for news publishers and independent journalists, with an innovative donation solution that engages users and allows the beneficiaries to join forces through a dynamic revenue-share option. The tool will trigger donations on a per-article basis, with the possibility for the revenue to be split between journalists and publishers with tools that allow the reader to choose the share for each party.
"LB.ua has a special place in the consortium, as we are the only media outlet there that works in a time of war. We have quite a lot of experience working with readers through fundraising campaigns, and our media outlet is in constant contact with our donors. LB.ua shares its unique experience with the members of the consortium, takes an active part in developing materials and designing software, conducting surveys of journalists, and disseminating information. At the same time, our European colleagues share their experience and the problems of their own media markets, such as the growing gap between the income of journalists with stable contracts, who are becoming fewer and fewer, and the growing number of freelancers, who are becoming more numerous, or the growing distrust of news, but at the same time the growing willingness of readers to financially support specific media outlets. Together, we are trying to find a strategy that would solve most of these issues and make journalists' earnings more sustainable," said Sonya Koshkina.
The consortium includes five news media outlets , based in Eastern and Western Europe : Worldcrunch the project coordinator (based in France), is a transnational digital media in English, LB.UA (Ukraine) and La Marea (Spain) are national medias and Pod Tepeto (Bulgaria) and Mensagem de Lisboa (Portugal) are locally based.
The consortium also includes two associations: the World Association of News Publishers, WAN-IFRA and Transitions, a Czech based organization composed of a media outlet and a journalism training institute.
A technology provider based in Greece: Athens Technology Center completes the partnership.
This donation solution will not only diversify online business opportunities, but will also improve the relationships between media companies and freelancers and encourage the production of more high-quality journalism.