The head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) faction in the State Council of the Komi Republic, Victor Vorobyev, suggested allowing deputies’ speeches in the Komi language and designating time for translation during the Council sessions. However, the Council’s Legislation Committee refused to consider Vorobyev's draft.
The Komi language has the status of the state language in the Komi Republic.
In October 2023, Deputy Ekaterina Dyachkova, who happens to be a Komi indigenous woman, was not allowed to ask a question in her native language during a session of the State Council. Her microphone was turned off. The Council’s spokesman, Sergei Usachev, interrupted Dyachkova’s attempts to speak up, saying that 'we are not in a kolkhoz here.' In Russian, the term 'kolkhoz' (collective farm) is often used as a slang synonym for 'old-fashioned, tasteless, ill-behaved, noisy.'
