Judging from the number of Ukrainian movies that have hit the big screen in recent years, the once-powerful industry is now more dead than alive.

Filmmaking's good times finished in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, that supplied with big financing and had an enormous infrastructure and cinema network.

President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych's administration promised to revive the movie industry through incentives. He has already signed one Law to help financing the movies, dubbed "revolutionary" by its authors, and further legislation is planned.

But market players aren't as sure about these efforts, reporting that everything depends on how these laws will be implemented, and that tax incentives alone can hardly make any difference. What the industry really needs, they argue, is broad financial, political and logistical support.

State funding for the industry slumped from an already modest Hr 49 million in 2008 to Hr 4.6 million in 2009 as the economic crisis hit the budget hard.

Oleg Kokhan, owner and producer of Sota Cinema Group that has produced internationally acclaimed movies, reported that the past 20 years of stagnation have not only seen the loss of a large wealth of ideas, professionals and skilled personnel, but also, great interest from the people.

Now, hence, officials are convinced that a solution to get the industry back on its feet has been found.

"The first revolution has happened this year and the second will happen in 2011," Hanna Chmil, former head of the State Cinematography Service and one of the coordinators of the reform process since 2007.

Amendments to legislation happened in March introduced a new system of national movie making financing and provides tax incentives for producers and distributors that will be in place from the beginning of next year.

The new legislation foresees the formation this year of the Support Council for National Cinematography, formed in the same parts by the government and the National Filmmakers Union. This Support Council will decide which movies qualify for fiscal relief and financial support, which can be up to 60 percent of a fiction movie's budget and 100 percent for animation, documentary and educational movies.