CRIMEA
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Crimea remained part of Ukraine and stamps and stamps from the now independent Ukraine are used.
AFTER 1990
Cover with Ukrainian postage stamps and the postmark of Yalta: УКРАIНА [UKRAINA] at the top and ЯЛТА КРИМ [YALTA KRIM] at the bottom.
On the postage stamps the indication in Cyrillic and Latin script: УКРАIНА and UKRAINA.
However, the beginning of the Ukrainian post -1992 – 1994 – was somewhat chaotic, as described in a series of articles by Sijtze Reurich. . From January 1, 1992, Ukraine became responsible for the post; but there was a lack of postage stamps. The first postage stamps, issued on March 1, 1992, were mainly sold abroad. The problem was even bigger by inflation and the lack of organization. So emergency solutions were sought: many local imprints. This led - especially in Ukraine - to many counterfeits and fantasy products. The old (imprinted) Soviet stamps are sometimes valid, sometimes not.
See article, in Dutch: Oekraïne 1992-1994: een filatelistische chaos : deel I ./ Sijtze Reurich. – OEF 1995 ; 13-3. – p. 2-15 and later articles. About Crimea: deel V. – In: OEF 1996 ; 14-4. – p. 19-22.
Even then, people in Crimea did not recognize the authority of Ukraine: they had proclaimed their own state 'Republic of Crimea', with their own 'postage stamps'.
There were regular clashes between the Crimean Republic and the Ukrainian parliament. In a referendum in 1991, the population opted for an autonomous Crimean republic within the Soviet Union.
On May 6, 1992, the parliament in Simferopol adopted a separate constitution, which had to be amended after protests from Kiev. The government in Kiev did agree to the Republic of Crimea as an autonomous republic within Ukraine.
In January 1994, the Russian Yuri Meshkov was elected president of the Republic of Crimea. He wanted a close relationship with Russia. In the summer of 1994, a power struggle broke out between the parliament in Kiev and the president of the Crimean Republic.
Many letters have not run: they have forged postmarks or the postage stamps are fantasy products (or both). An article, in Dutch, by Edwin Muller about the post in Crimea in this period was published in OEF: Het functioneren van de post op het Krim-schiereiland, 1992-1994 /Edwin Muller. – In: OEF 1995 ; 13-4. - p. 5-20. - [about: The functioning of the post on the Crimean Peninsula, 1992-1994].
In Yalta they made overprints such as this letter. The overprint of 2.93 karbovanets was added to the imprinted stamp of 7 kopecks. The 7 kopecks counted as 0.7 karbovanets. From the start in 1992, the conversion was: 1 karbovanets=1 rubel=100 kopecks. The letter was sent in March 1993 and the rate for a domestic letter was 3 karbovanets. After that, the rate would rise considerably (500 in 1994) due to hyperinflation. Therefore, between September 2-16, 1996, the kabovanets was replaced by the hryvnia: 100,000 karbovantsiv = 1 hryvnia.
The letter to Trevor Pateman, well-known philatelist, was fabricated by himself. Imprints that he had made in the United Kingdom caused no problem at the counter. It concerns the brown stamp at the top right and the letter was sent without any problems.
Between 1992 and 1994, inflation in Ukraine started to rise sharply. To get an idea: in May 1992 the rate for a domestic letter was 1 karbovanets, in November 1994 it was 500 karbovanets. All kinds of 'aid issues' were therefore also made in Crimea. Crimea was part of Ukraine, but otherwise continued to operate quite autonomously.
Due to the rapidly rising inflation, the Ukrainian authorities decided to take a drastic measure: postal rates abroad were linked to the US dollar on December 6, 1993. This letter, sent in February 1994, therefore also fell under this tariff provision.
The registered letter goes from Sevastopol in Crimea to the United Kingdom. The dates in the postmarks are somewhat unclear, but the enclosed letter is dated February 15, 1994. The arrival stamp on the reverse is dated February 23, 1994. According to Ivo Steijn's article, the rate set for registered letters sent abroad was $0.70 or $0.75. For postage, the dollar rate was converted to Ukrainian karbovanets. The exchange rate for the conversion was fixed twice a week. Ivo's article also includes a table with conversions. From December 6, 1993 – early May 1994 the conversion was: $1.00 was 12,600 karbovanets (Krb), $0.15 was 1,890 Krb and $0.20 was 2,520 Krb. These are not exact amounts: approximately, and the amounts had to be convertible from stamps to karbovanets.
If we assume a rate of $0.70 for this letter, this table arrives at 8800 karbovanets. This amount is also noted at the top right of the envelope. If we add the values of the stamps together, this amounts to 8835 karbovanets, so it adds up quite nicely. But there is a very special stamp: the stamp with an imprint of 8000 Krb.
The Ukrainian postage stamp with overprint of 8000 was produced by Trevor Pateman on his Apple Mac, sent to Crimea and therefore used there. The stamp simply counted towards the postage. Trevor Pateman wanted to demonstrate that in Crimea everything was possible with self-produced 'stamps'.
See;
Lit. 1 Oekraïne 1992-194 : een filatelistische chaos deel I / Sijtze Reurich. – In OEF 1995 ; nr. 3. – p. 2-15 [article in Dutch: Ukraine 1992-194: a philatelic chaos part I]
Lit. 2 Het functioneren van de post op het Krim-schiereiland, 1992-1994 / Edwin Muller. – In: OEF 1995 ; nr. 4. – p. 5-20 [article in Dutch: The functioning of the post on the Crimean Peninsula, 1992-1994]
Lit.3 Enigma : Ukrainian mail abroad in 1994 / by Ivo Steijn. – In; Rossica 2001 ; no. 137. – p. 17-23
This part based on: Groeten uit de Krim deel 5 : 1994 / Jan Kaptein. - In: OEF 2018 (jrg. 36) ; Nr. 4. - p. 6-7. - [About: Greetings from the Crimea: cover 1994 with fantasy-stamp, postal rates, article in Dutch]
The Ukrainian Post also dedicated a number of stamps to the places of Crimea: art treasures, issued in 2013, and the famous botanical garden Nikitski, issued 2012. The garden -1100 hectares- is located nearby Yalta and was founded in 1812.
The Crimean crisis began in 2014. Prime Minister Aksenov announced on March 1 that the referendum on Crimea would be brought forward to March 30, 2014. It eventually became March 16, 2014. On March 17, the Republic, together with Sevastopol, seceded as an independent Republic of Crimea. A day later, Russia annexed it as the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. The events were also commemorated by the Post of the Russian Federation with postage stamps and postmarks.
On July 4, 2014, Ukraine issued this postal stationery with a mosque in Crimea. The envelope bears the Ukrainian designation СТАРИЙ КРИМ [STARII KRIM]. In Russian this place is referred to as СТАРЫЙ КРЫМ, slightly different. Staryi Crimea was mentioned in the previous article about Crimea: it is located in the east of Crimea and in the 15th century the name Qrim became common for this place. The name of the Khanate of Crimea - and later the peninsula - comes from here.
The Ozbek Han Mosque in Staryi Crimea is the oldest mosque in Crimea. The mosque was built during the reign of Uzbeg Khan in 1314. He ruled the Golden Horde from 1313 to 1341.
He converted to Islam and with his reign Islam spread throughout the Golden Horde region. However, he was tolerant towards the Christians in his area.
Now there is a small Crimean Tatar community in Staryi Crimea and the mosque is back in use for them.
In Rossca you can find an extensive article about the changes in 2014. Four periods can be distinguished:
1. All-Ukrainian: postage stamps, tariffs, postmarks (March 21-31)
2. Ukrainian and Russian postage stamps, rates and postmarks still Ukrainian (April 1-30)
3. Ukrainian and Russian postagestamps, Russian rates with special rate for local mail within Crimea, Ukrainian and Russian postmarks (May 1-September 30)
4. All Russian, with special rate for local mail within Crimea (October 1-present)
The Ukrainian post had sorting centers in Sevastopol and Simferopol. All mail for Crimea arrived here via sorting centers in Kiev and elsewhere in Ukraine. There was no direct exchange in Crimea for international mail.
See: Postal situation in Crimea / Genady Berman and Dmitriy Chizhmakov. – In Rossica 2014 ; No. 164. – p. 7-17.
