FOCUS ON PHILATELY
by Ingert Kuzych
Ukrainian provisional stamps, 1992-1995
PART I
One of the most fascinating and challenging collecting areas of Ukrainian philately emerged shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. On January 2, 1992, just one month after Ukraine ratified its independence from the USSR, Ukraine's postal service instituted a nine-fold (ten times) increase in postal rates. Suddenly, postage stamps denominated 35 kopiyky (the Ukrainian equivalent of the Soviet Russian kopek) and higher were needed to facilitate this rate increase - but none were immediately available. An earlier (much smaller) rate hike announced by Soviet authorities in April of 1991 resulted in orders for the printing of one-, two- and 3-kopek stamps. However, the delivery of these low-value stamps to post offices was significantly delayed and, once they did arrive, they proved virtually useless to cover the major new rate increase of January 1992.
During the Soviet era, all post offices - recognized as being communication facilities with an inherent capability of influencing the populace - were kept under the strictest control and centrally managed to the greatest extent possible from Moscow. After Ukraine broke away from the USSR in late 1991, Ukrainian postal officials were initially not even aware of the locations and the total number of post offices under their "control." In effect, many smaller post offices became isolated and rudderless; this detachment occurred in nearly every postal region of the newly independent state. As a result, when the need for higher value postage became critical (i.e., when stocks of available old Soviet stamps became depleted), post offices all over the country were forced to take the initiative and to set about creating provisional stamps of various types.
Initial efforts
The need for new higher-denominated stamps was first felt in Ukraine's largest postal facility in Kyiv, because as the national postal headquarters it acquired the responsibility for supplying stamps to the rest of the country's post offices. The Kyiv Main Post Office quickly set about producing its own local provisional stamps, since Ukraine did not yet have its own stamp-printing facilities. In January 1992 a set of seven ungummed stamps with a simple design and ranging in values from 1 to 50 karbovantsi was quickly printed (Figure 1). Over the next few months several added designs - with many additional values - were produced (Figure 2).
It was the major post offices of Kyiv, Lviv and Chernihiv that at the end of March 1992 first began to use trident-overprinted Soviet-era stamps. Three basic trident-in-shield designs were used, and 13 different values, each of a specified color, were printed at the Borysfen print shop in Kyiv (Figure 3). Twelve of the prepared values went to the Kyiv post office, seven went to Lviv, and four to Chernihiv. These overprinted stamps were the only ones officially ordered by the Ministry of Communications and they represented the modern-day continuation of a practice of philatelic Ukrainianization first begun in 1918. At that time, during Ukraine's earlier period of independence, many former stamps of the tsarist regime received trident overprints.
Grouping the provisionals
When quantities of former Soviet stamps began to run low, other post offices began to take matters into their own hands to keep the mails moving. Many procedures for indicating postal payment were contrived, and these can be grouped into several distinct categories:
1. Local provisionals, which consisted of stamp-like pieces of paper or cardboard hastily created by handstamp, meter machine, or other device to take the place of stamps. Figure 4 shows a registered letter with four local provisionals produced in Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi. It was sent from Tsybli to Kyiv on June 30, 1993. This category of provisionals proved to be the largest by far for items that were affixed to mail. Additionally, a few locales actually took the trouble to have provisional stamps printed at local print shops. The fauna stamps of Chernivtsi, several of which are pictured in Figure 5, are a good example of such locally printed stamps.
2. Overprints of new denominations, symbols and/or text printed onto obsolete Soviet postage stamps. The advantage of producing overprinted stamps is that they were already gummed, perforated and available in relatively large quantities. Figure 6 depicts an airmail letter bearing three trident-overprinted Soviet stamps produced in Kyiv. This letter from Kyiv to Cicero, lll., was posted in April 1992.
3. Cash register receipts and postal forms drafted into use to indicate payment of postage. The former were especially widely used and could be produced as needed to show any value necessary. They were printed by post office cash register machines and affixed to envelopes (Figure 7). This proved to be a very efficient way of quickly creating "stamps" that showed how much had been paid, that displayed the name of the post office and that also included an official emblem (the old Soviet seal). A further way of creating "stamps" was to use available old Soviet post office receipt forms and simply fill them out - perhaps trim them to size - and paste them onto mails (Figure 8).
4. Revalued stamps were regular stamps - either old Soviet or newer Ukrainian issues - that simply acquired a new value, different from what was printed on them. This practice began in the second half of 1994 and consisted of stamps being assigned a new worth, usually 10, 100 or 1,000 times their original value. In a few instances, new values were inscribed by pen onto the stamp (Figure 9).
A fifth category - surcharges - differed from the stamp-like items described above. They consisted of markings applied directly onto Soviet postal stationery (envelopes and postal cards) to meet the new rates. These markings took on a tremendous variety of forms, ranging from simple handwritten values to elaborate special marks, but the sheer volume produced puts their description beyond the scope of this article. Nonetheless, an illustration is warranted. Figure 10 shows a 1994 trident surcharge added to a registered cover from Druzhkivka. The 1993 Ukrainian commemorative on the envelope marks the 60th anniversary of the Great Famine.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Communications gave permission for all of the above-described categories of provisionals to be produced. Over time, however, the different varieties of overprints, surcharges and the like became so prolific that when the Ukrainian Postal Administration finally got a handle on its postal system, it denied that most of these provisional stamps - which had actually been used to transmit mail were in fact legitimate postal issues. The majority of post offices that produced local provisionals subsequently became reluctant to shed any light on what had happened. Many inquiries went unanswered or received the typical response of "nothing happened." This holdover Soviet mentality stymied many philatelists who thus had additional hurdles thrown in their way when trying to obtain creditable information about these issues.
Time and persistence ultimately saw some of these obstacles overcome. A number of local postal directors did eventually release certificates of authenticity detailing what postal issues were placed into circulation. Various determined researchers also searched through archives at different institutions and dug through private collections to uncover interesting materials and piece together what had actually been produced. By 1996 the first major reference work on the subject of provisionals had been published.
We now know that well over 200 post offices throughout the country took the initiative to produce provisional stamps of one sort or another up to the middle of 1995. After this time regular (national) stamps supplanted any remaining provisionals. By far the greatest number of provisional stamps were manufactured during 1992 and 1993, far less in 1994, and only a few in 1995. It was during the first two years that the country suffered most from inflation and the postal administration was forced to raise rates six times. The only way post offices could keep up with the ever-changing tariffs was to continue to produce provisional stamps.
Ingert Kuzych may be contacted at P.O. Box 3, Springfield, VA 22150 or at his e-mail address: [email protected].
PART I
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 7, 2004, No. 45, Vol. LXXII
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