On Thursday, Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine took part in the opening of the conference dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Ukrainian Library Association.
M. Tomenko greeted the participants of the meeting and wished them luck in their work. The Deputy Chairman also declared his willingness to become a public representative of the library association in the Parliament, and informed that on 17 November the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the bill on amendments to the Law "On Privatization of Small State-Owned Enterprises (Small Privatization)" (on the Ban on Privatization of Premises of the Libraries, Bookshops and State-Owned Publishing Houses)" (Reg. No.5449) in the first reading. However, he asked the heads of the libraries to elucidate the situation with the privatization of the premises of the libraries, bookshops and state-owned publishing houses to the parliamentary majority deputies, since the Party of Regions decided to vote for this bill in the last minutes. "If the bill is not adopted in entirety, the local authorities are sure to launch the second wave of privatization", he stated.
Mykola Tomenko has also presented a new web portal "Ridna Kraina" that can be used in the work in the library. Furthermore, M. Tomenko presented the participants with "Ukrainian Year Book-2011 (Business Diary of a Ukrainian) published by Mykola Tomenko Fund "Ridna Kraina" and Heneza publishing house on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Ukrainian independence.