On 5 August 2015 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the Regulation required to formally launch the transition process from state to public broadcasting. This Cabinet of Ministers Regulation launches the implementation of the public broadcasting law as amended on April 2015.  It therefore triggers the legal, administrative and financial procedures for the following:

• The merger of 29 elements of public broadcasters, national TV and radio companies, the regional state-owned broadcasters and production companies into one state enterprise, under the umbrella of the National Television Company, including all related assets. A special Commission will be set up in line with this Regulation to supervise the merger.
• The transforming of the National Television Company of Ukraine into a public joint-stock company, the National Public Broadcaster of Ukraine.

A further transition process to public broadcasting is estimated to take six months with the countdown starting from 5 August 2015.

The draft text of the Regulation can be found by following this link: http://195.78.68.20/teleradio/control/uk/publish/article?art_id=120004&cat_id=74130

The law “On the System of Public Broadcasting” was adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament on 17 April 2014. This framework law was further improved and made functional after the adoption of amendments on 19 March 2015 (draft law 1357). The Council of Europe provided comprehensive expert guidance to policymakers, on the basis of official requests for Council of Europe expertise by the Parliament during key phases of the legislative process. This assistance was provided within the framework of two Council of Europe projects in Ukraine, “Integration of European Standards in the Ukrainian Media Environment” funded by the Government of Canada and “Strengthening Information Society in Ukraine” funded by the European Union.

The draft amendments (draft law 1357) were signed by the President of Ukraine on 7 April 2015 and enacted on 10 April 2015 thereby imparting certainty on the scope and the establishment of the future public broadcasting system.