When it comes to renaming settlements in Ukraine, template approaches are often used without taking into account local peculiarities. This is particularly true of the initiative to rename Brovary to Brovari. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Roman Babiy, a Ukrainian MP who was born and lives in Brovary.
The MP does not support changing the name of his hometown. According to him, at least in the current environment, such a decision is not timely. Besides, Brovary is a historical name that was used long before the Soviet Union.
Brovary is mentioned in this spelling in documents dating back to the 17th century. Thus, it is not a communist term or a name assigned during the Soviet Union. This is a historical place name that in the past was in line with the spelling rules. Not all place names are always brought in line with the spelling rules, which change from time to time. By the way, the spelling of my patronymic also does not correspond to the modern Ukrainian spelling. My passport says "Vyacheslavovych," although now it should be written with an apostrophe. But when I was born, this was the correct spelling,
The MP reminded that the community of Brovary also believes that changing the name of the city is inappropriate, and two respected scientific institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine agree with them in their conclusions.
"We discussed the possible renaming with my fellow deputies, voters, and local authorities. Back in the spring of this year, I received an appeal from the Brovary City Council about the inexpediency of renaming. Of course, local authorities are guided by the opinion of the community. There are also conclusions of the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Institute of the Ukrainian Language on the preservation of the current name," added the MP from Brovary.
He believes that this issue should not be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada and does not plan to vote for it.
"The first reasonable counter-question I hear from Brovary residents is why do this now, don't you have anything else to do in the council?
I am convinced that this issue should not be submitted to the Council. Unfortunately, the approaches to renaming are currently being applied in a template manner, without taking into account local peculiarities. If it is submitted for consideration, I do not plan to support it," summarized Roman Babiy.
Recall
A group of MPs led by a representative of the Voice faction, Roman Lozynskyi, registered a resolution in the Verkhovna Rada to rename Brovary to Brovary.
Local residents, with whom UNN spoke, do not support this idea. In particular, they do not understand where the name "Brovari" actually came from, which also does not sound very nice.
Brovary residents also say that MPs simply have nothing to do. And such controversial decisions are definitely not the right time. In addition, renaming the city will entail additional financial costs.