Following the
ratification of Ukraine's independence on December 1, 1991; Government
authorities were faced with the monumental task of creating a new
postal service. One of the first challenges for the new Ukrainian state
was to issue its own postage stamps.
Soviet stamps
initially remained valid for postage until the end of 1992. During this
time, postal rates began to increase sharply due to rising inflation
and a declining economy. Large quantity of Soviet postal stationery
were overprinted with a variety of surcharges. As an emergency measure,
Ukrainian postal authorities set into circulation provisional issues.
The first
Ukrainian stamp was issued on March 1, 1992. It was printed in Moscow
and had a very small print-run. Although the early commemoratives were
distributed nationally, they were used infrequently because of their
low face-value.
Unsatisfied
with the prospect of having all Ukrainian stamps printed in Moscow,
Ukrainian postal authorities entered into agreements with various
foreign countries. By early 1996; Ukraine was able to print all its own
commemorative issues. From the beginning, there were numerous problems.
There was very poor qulity control in the printing of the stamps. Over
time, these problems have seem to have disappeared. Today, we can see
the high quality of workmanship in the design and printing of
commemorative stamps.
One of the
unique feature of Ukrainian philately is the issuance of definitive
issues. Instead of having a denominational value assigned to a stamp,
there is a letter of the alphabet. Each letter has a specific purpose
and its value is either based on legislation or the value of the
American dollar. This system was used to deal with escalating inflation
and changing postal rates.
Ukrainians
continue to use postal stationery for the vast majority of their postal
needs. As a result, there is a small number of stamps issued for any
particular occasion when compared to North American or Western European
standards.
Over the last
10 years, Ukraine has issued close to 400 stamps. Their subject matter
has been varied. It is our intent to explain to you the various stamps
issued. From time to time, we will try to explain the importance of a
stamp to Ukrainian's social and cultural history.
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