French Embassy opposes renaming of village in Odesa region

The village of Nadezhdivka, which is part of the Artsyzka community of Bolhrad district, Odesa region, was excluded from the list of settlements that were recently renamed by the Verkhovna Rada due to the outrage of the French Embassy.

This was reported by Besarabia INFORM with reference to the village elder Dmytro Terzi.

The village was planned to be renamed Champagne. Dmytro Terzi explained that on August 1, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk received a letter from the French Embassy in Ukraine, asking him not to give the village this name.

The published letter states that it was decided to give the new name to the village in honor of the Champagne Ukraine Limited Liability Company, which is registered and operates in the village.

The fact is that in accordance with Article 208 of the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their states, on the other hand, signed in 2014, the geographical indication Champagne, as well as its transcription in Ukrainian letters "Champagne", will be protected from January 1, 2026.

According to the YouControl service, the company produces, among other things, grape wine. The company's group includes the Odesa and French Boulevard trademarks, under which it produces sparkling wine, which has been called "Champagne" in Ukraine since Soviet times, although such wines are exported as "sparkling".

The fact is that the name "Champagne" according to the European Union regulations can only be used for wine produced in the Champagne province of France and is a trademark (perhaps the embassy was afraid that Ukrainians would start supplying wine from their Champagne as if it were French - ed.) Other producers do not have the right to call sparkling wines of their own production "champagne".

Thus, the embassy noted that if the village is renamed to Champagne in 2026, France will be forced to insist on a new renaming of the settlement. So the Rada decided to remove the name from the list.

Кирило Бойко