Azarov wants monument to Bohdan Stupka in Kyiv

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said that he wants a monument to actor Bohdan Stupka to be built in Kyiv.

"I knew Bohdan Sylvestrovych [Stupka] for many years. He was a great actor. He was able to transform – it's a rare quality. He was a brilliant actor... We need to take steps to perpetuate his memory," he said in a phone-in session with the readers of the Komsomolskaya Pravda v Ukraine newspaper in Kyiv on Monday.

Azarov said that the best place for the construction of the monument would be the area near Ivanko Franko Theater in Kyiv, where Stupka worked for many years.

He suggested that the construction of such a monument could be funded by the state, but added that it would be better if it were to be built "at the expense of the people's funds."

"A national monument is more valuable. It's one thing when the state allocates funds. But it's another thing when people are collecting money – Hr 5, Hr 1,000, or Hr 10,000 - and such a monument will be erected and this will be the best tribute and respect to our great actor," he said.

Outstanding Ukrainian actor Stupka died at the age of 70 after a long illness on July 22 at the Feofania clinic in Kyiv, where he spent the last four months of his life.