Kuzbass authorities are still unable to say when they will stop spelling the region's name with a Z.

NGS journalists done Submit a request to the Kemerovo Region Government's Information Policy Department to learn the exact timeline for returning the region and government agencies to Cyrillic, rather than using the letter Z.

According to the department's response, the letter Z will be replaced with "Z" in the name of the Kemerovo Region starting in the spring of 2022. This is part of the "KuZbass – For the Motherland" campaign. No end date for this campaign was set.

"The use of this verbal symbol as a brand in the media, including on the official websites of Kuzbass government agencies, on social media, in presentations, at forums, and at other events, does not contradict current legislation and does not require additional legal regulation," the Department of Information Policy stated in a response.

Let us remember that this is not the first time that Kuzbass officials set The use of the letter Z raised questions. In February of this year, St. Petersburg activist Alexei Lakhov complained to the presidential administration about the widespread use of the letter Z in official names by government agencies, including in Kuzbass. Officials responded that the letter Z is not a lexical unit, but a graphic symbol of phonetic writing. And it has contextual meaning.