Ukrainian writers and publishers set ablaze manuscripts and books in front of government headquarters on Wednesday to denounce tax policies they say could kill off the ex-Soviet state's fledgling publishing sector.
About 200 demonstrators tossed books into a bonfire lit on a tree-lined Kiev boulevard, saying imposition of value added tax could make books too expensive for many impoverished Ukrainians.
Some carried banners reading "Manuscripts are already on fire!" and "In the beginning there was the word. Then there was government".
"This is a symbolic gesture to show our government that they are killing Ukrainian literature and the publishing sector," Oksana Zabuzhko, a prominent feminist writer, told Reuters.
Average monthly wages in Ukraine are equivalent to about $60 a month. About a third of the 48 million population live below the poverty line.
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