Kyiv, 4 April 2014 – Speaking at a press briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, General Director of the National Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (NBCU), Zurab Alasaniya said: “In the nearest future, after the relevant law has been passed, the Cabinet of Ministers is planning to give up control of the NBCU and re-organize it into public television based on the updated structure of the NBCU and regional broadcasting companies.”
“Today the NBCU owns 4 channels: Channel One, Channel One Ukraine, a digital channel and an analog channel. This is too much, the system needs to be optimized. There will be personnel cuts: the number of deputy directors of the NBCU will be reduced from nine to four, and NBCU’s 60 administration offices and directorates will be reduced to four,” Mr. Alasaniya added.
“As for the propaganda, I believe that public broadcasting should be free from it. There will be no political wars on public television as long as I am in charge. Propaganda issues should be handled by the UTR channel together with other organizations that broadcast internationally,” emphasized the General Director of the NBCU.
Speaking about the funding of the re-organized NBCU, Zurab Alasaniya said: “For some time, the NBCU will still be funded by the government. However, we’ve immediately began cooperating with leading European and US organizations to receive grants for our work.”
Zurab Alasaniya is a public activist, journalist, founder of the MediaPort agenciy, head of the Kharkiv region broadcasting company from 2005 to 2010. On 25 March 2014 he was appointed Director of the NBCU.
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