On 26-27 July 2017 a working trip to Luhansk and Donetsk regional branches of the PJSC Television and Radio Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) took place. The delegation included 7 members of the Supervisory Board, 2 members of the Management Board of the National Public Television and 2 Members of the Ukrainian Parliament – Viktoria Siumar, Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information Policy and Yurii Pavlenko, member of the same Parliamentary Committee, and Emine Dzhaparova, First Deputy of the Minister of Information Policy of Ukraine, currently the Acting Minister of Information Policy.
The first day the working trip participants spent in Kramatorsk, where they attended meetings with the management and personnel of Donetsk regional branch (hereinafter – “Donetsk branch”), as well as local authorities representatives.
At the meeting with the Head and personnel of Donetsk branch a number of issues related to the everyday operation of the branch were discussed, including a detailed discussion of the current problems. Namely, Illia Suzdaliev, Temporary Acting Director of the Donetsk branch, spoke about the following problems: lack of personnel with specialized training, expensive office rent (UAH 40 000 per month), the material and technical servicing is at an extremely low level, and absence of a vehicle often constrains on-site visits of journalists. The working trip participants paid particular attention to the coverage and signal of the “Holos Donbasu” (“Voice of Donbas”) radio station (note: Donetsk branch broadcasts the “Do TeBe” TV Channel (regional television) and the “Holos Donbasu” Radio Station (“Voice of Donbas”) radio station (regional radio) since interruptions in radio broadcasting were identified. The participants also noticed that Donetsk branch currently has no development strategy. They recommended developing it since this document is crucial for the branch in the light of the Public Broadcasting system development.
The working trip participants also met with Pavlo Zhebrivskyi, Head of the Donetsk Region State Administration. At the meeting the issues of ensuring information security in the region, and relations between local authorities and Donetsk branch in the light of its status change – form state to public – were discussed. The meeting with the representatives of the local authorities was followed by a joint press-briefing for the local journalists.
27th of July, the second working trip day, was spent in Sievierodonetsk. The delegation at first visited UA:PBC branch – “Luhansk regional branch” (hereinafter – “Luhansk branch”) which broadcasts the “LOT” TV channel and “Puls” radio. In general, the “LOT” TV channel produces about 7 hours of its own content, while radio station produces 6 hours. The working trip participants were positive about the fact that the maximum contact with the viewer and his/her involvement in discussion is a key direction of the broadcasting strategy of Luhansk branch.
Andrii Shapovalov, the Director General, answered in details the questions concerning the operation of the branch and presented the development strategy. He mentioned financing as one of the current challenges. Despite the fact that the branch has full technical equipment at the moment, it works at 130% of its potential due to production load intensity. That is why the equipment wears down too quickly. It is hard to find new equipment and there is no backup equipment. Besides, the “LOT” TV channel is planning on building a large studio that will enable inviting viewers to the programs. However, this project requires significant funds. During the meeting with the Luhansk branch personnel the Supervisory Board and the Management Board members answered the questions regarding further development of the Public broadcasting reform, i.e. production load plans, salaries, staffing policies, work format etc.
The day ended in Luhansk Region State Administration, where the working trip participants met with Yurii Klymenko, Deputy Head, Temporary Acting Head of the Administration. During the meeting the same issues as in Kramatorsk were discussed, i.e. information security in the region, as well as new format of interaction of the local authorities and Luhansk branch with the view of the status change of the latter form state to public.
This working trip was the first one of the series of the UA:PBC Supervisory Board working trips to regions.
The working trip was organised by the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening Freedom of Media and Establishing a Public Broadcasting System in Ukraine”, implemented within the Council of Europe Action Plan for 2015-2017.
