Ukrainian’s stamp printers are once again busy as the country’s post office orders a further print run of a new version of the famous stamp urging a Russian warship to go away.
The issue of that stamp was followed two days later by the sinking of the Moskva warship. Now the post office is cashing in on interest in the incident from both local and international collectors. The design has been modified for the new issue of the design. The original design includes the addition of a seal declaring ‘Done’ with the date of the sinking while a second version has the vessel removed. The printer has produced 3 million of the stamp for domestic use and around 2 million for international mail.
The stamps are printed four-colour process in blocks of six with further declarations in the margin, including register marks in the form of the Ukrainian trident symbol.
Ukrainian publishers meanwhile are preparing for a rush of interest once the war has ended and it becomes feasible to print books in the country again. Most book printers in Ukraine are located in Kharkiv, the leading city for book publishing. But call ups, shelling and scarcity of materials has stopped local printing.
Assuming that a settlement is reached there will be demand internally for books, a rekindled interest in the country from international publishers and a need to restock educational titles which have been destroyed by the Russians either deliberately or as a result of shelling.
Books continue to be in demand in Ukrainian for distribution to refugee children, while Christian missionary groups are increasing production of tracts and pamphlets to hand out to those fleeing the conflict. The World Missionary Press says it has received urgent requests for booklets in Ukrainian and Russian. The WMP would in normal times expect to print and distribute 8 million booklets a month.
Another impact of the war is being felt in Malta where the government has pledged a €500,000 support fund to help newspaper publishers on the island cushion the impact of increasing paper and consumable prices as a direct result of the war. Prime minister Robert Abela has said: “The government will be providing financial assistance to newspaper publishers, as they currently face significant challenges due to the substantial increase in the price of paper.” There are 14 different newspapers printed in Malta each week.
Printing difficulties continue to beset Russia with the increasing effects of sanctions. Like NCL which will brand any plates and consumables it receives with its own name, flexo consumables company B2Print is introducing inks under its won InkLab brand.
This is an acceleration of a project which began at the end of 2021. B2Print CEO Sergey Kuzin, says: “In the current conditions, it is becoming very difficult, and in some cases even impossible, to transport products of European manufacturers to Russia. Therefore, we consider cooperation within the framework of OEM agreements as one of the possible working options for supplying Russian printing houses with ink in the near and medium term. At the same time, we organise our work in such a way as to exclude violation of the current legislation and not put ourselves or our manufacturing partners at risk.”
It is planning inksets for different applications, increasing sources from Asia as those in Europe prove more difficult.
