Ukrainian Culture minister Tkachenko says 0 points to Lithuania and Poland was “a shame”

Ukraine’s minister for Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko has responded to the jury votes given by Ukraine in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest. In a statement on Facebook, the minister says it was “a shame” that Ukraine did not give any points to Poland or Lithuania.

Tkachenko: “This does not represent our real attitude”

Oleksandr Tkachenko, who has been the Minister for Culture and Information Policy since June 2020, took to his own social media to comment on the scores given by Ukraine’s jury. You can read his statement on Facebook or below:

I would like to address to our closest friends in Europe and express my personal position as to the points given by the jury from Ukraine to Poland and Lithuania.

Such evaluation doesn’t reflect our real attitude towards you, our closest friends in Europe.

Yes, the British were cool but they became different. However, to give Poland and Lithuania 0 points it is a real shame.

You obtained 12 from Ukrainians!

Your support is invaluable. Our gratitude and commitment to you is the same. And although the competition is not political, it is not politics – it is friendship, it is common values, it is comprehensive support in all areas. And I hope that all this will last for many, many years further. Dear Polish and Lithuanian people, we are eternally grateful to you, our victory is common: both at Eurovision and defeating the enemy.

Poland 11th, Lithuania 21st

The Ukrainian jury at the Eurovision Song Contest consisted of Andriy Yatskiv, Andriy Kapral, Iryna Fedyshyn, Lukian Halkin and Vadym Lysycia. The five jurors placed Poland 11th in the Grand Final. Ochman and his “River” made the top ten for both Andriy Kapral and Lukian Halkin, with the others ranking it lower. “Sentimentai” by Monika Liu, the Lithuanian entry, only came 21st. Halkin ranked it 11th, giving it the highest score. Jury president Andriy Yatskiv ranked Lithuania last. Below you can see the full scores:

	Yatskiv	Kapral	Fedyshyn	Halkin	Lysycia	TOTAL
Poland	11	10	15	7	12	11
Lithuania	24	20	19	11	17	21

The Ukrainian televoters did not agree with their jury. Poland received the famous douze points, with Lithuania getting ten points. Interestingly, Iceland’s Systur received eight points. The Icelandic sisters only received ten televoting points in total for their entry, of which 80% staggeringly came from winning country Ukraine. The other two points came from Denmark.

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