Ukrainian provisional stamps, 1992-1995

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.

Further examples of provisional stamps

Local Provisionals: The very simplest provisional types produced locally were small pieces of paper with the initials "TP" (French for taxe percue or "charge collected") and spaces for the amount (Cyrillic "P" for ruble and "k" for kopiyka), see Figure 11. A variant form only showed the word "oplacheno" (Russian for paid) and the amount imprinted onto a paper strip (Figure 12).

Other post offices took a little more time in creating their provisional issues, which then in some way usually came to resemble regular stamps. A variety of methods were used to create these provisionals. In Kharkiv a simple design was drawn, repeated 100 times on a sheet, and photocopied on a copy machine (Figure 13). These stamps only remained in circulation for five days, however, when it was discovered how easily anybody could make them on a copy machine.

In Mykolaiv, stamp designs were created by computer and printing took place on the computer printer (Figure 14). Most provisionals, however, were created by modifying post office canceling machines to "stamp out" new stamp designs (Figure 15). Many of the smaller post offices resorted to the old-fashioned method of provisional stamp production and simply hand stamped designs onto paper that was then cut up to create new stamps (Figure 16).

Overprints: The city that disseminated the largest quantity of overprinted Soviet stamps was Chernivtsi; no less than six series of overprints were applied. The first series of stamps resembled those of Kyiv, Lviv and Chernihiv: the tridents were very similar, but the value numerals were far more bold. Subsequent overprints had the words "Poshta Ukrainy" and sometimes added the province name "Bukovyna" (Figure 17). In all, 220 different overprinted stamps have been documented from Chernivtsi.

Mykolaiv also was responsible for issuing a very large number of overprinted stamps. Two series of overprints were produced, one of which showed "Poshta Ukrainy" and the city name reading upward and one of nine new values along the bottom. The second displayed the city name at the top, a trident-in-shield, and one of three new values (Figure 18). In total, 116 different overprinted stamps came from this city.

Lutsk, too, had trident-in-shield overprints (four distinct sizes) and seven different values, along with the word "Lutsk," printed onto stamp panes (sheets) of 100. Two colors, black or orange, were used, and a total of 70 different stamps are known (Figure 19). Here, however, the status of the stamps is somewhat dubious. They were available for only one day, August 27, 1993, at the opening festivities of Volyn State University. While they were locally authorized, they were withdrawn at the insistence of the postal authorities in Kyiv. Only letters created by philatelists are known to carry these stamps.

Another city where the overprinting of Soviet stamps was widespread was Melitopil. Here 57 different Soviet-era stamps were overprinted in a two-step process: one to apply a trident and another to revalue the stamp. Seven distinct tridents and six different values were used in various combinations, but in Melitopil - unlike the previous three locales described above - the entire process was carried out by hand (Figure 20). As happened in 1918, all sorts of varieties were created: double overprints, missing overprints, inverted overprints, different-colored overprints, etc.

Other smaller post offices simply hand stamped a new value number - without any trident or text - onto a limited quantity of Soviet stamps (e.g., in Huliai-Pole, Mykhailivka, Polohy and Borodianka).

Cash register receipts

The use of these little paper tapes varied tremendously from region to region. In some oblasts they were not prepared at all; in others they were extensively used. Cash registers were each numbered and produced numbered receipts, so one can collect different "stamps" from each of the different machines. For example, no less than 28 cash registers at various post offices in the Kharkiv Oblast printed off receipts, and this many distinct "stamp" types can be collected from that province (Figure 21).

Provisional stamp fakes

During the early 1990s, while communication officials in Ukraine and in other former Soviet republics tried to bring order to their postal establishments, many unscrupulous speculators took advantage of the general confusion and the variety of provisionals in circulation to fabricate "stamps" of their own. These creations they then passed off as legitimate "new" provisionals. In some instances, they even bribed postal workers (usually underpaid) to pass letters bearing these "stamps" through the postal system so they could then have "used" examples "proving" their authenticity. Many collectors, particularly those outside of the former Soviet Union, fell victim to these machinations.

Today, however, Ukraine's legitimate provisional stamp issues are some of the best documented of all of those from the former Soviet republics. For this we can thank one particularly dogged individual, Hryhoriy Lobko, who set about visiting as many Ukrainian post offices as possible to obtain first-hand information about provisionals. His first catalogue of 1996 was greatly expanded and translated into English in 2000 and remains the definitive reference work on the subject. Since he only lists issues with verifiable backgrounds, all other "provisionals" may be assumed to be bogus.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that modern-day provisionals form one of the most interesting areas of Ukrainian philately. The above descriptions give only a representative sample of the variety of provisional stamps prepared in Ukraine during the early 1990s. The sheer quantity produced, however, ensures that these stamps will remain available to collectors and at the same time that not everything about them has yet been learned. New discoveries await those willing to explore this intriguing new area of inquiry.

The "Bible"

Readers wishing to learn more about Ukraine's amazing diversity of provisional postage stamps may acquire Mr. Lobko's unsurpassed reference work, "The Provisional Postage Stamps of Ukraine, 1992-1995," from the following address: Ukrainian Philatelic Resources, P.O. Box 3, Springfield, VA 22150. This fascinating 272-page volume contains over 700 illustrations. The cost of the book is $27 postpaid to U.S. addresses, $30 to Canada and abroad.

The Ukrainian Weekly, November 7, 2004, No. 45, Vol. LXXII

The Ukrainian Weekly, December 12, 2004, No. 50, Vol. LXXII