On 19 October, the online discussion on the results and plans of the Public Broadcaster in Ukraine took place. The participants paid special attention to the importance of ensuring funding for the National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) for 2021 and discussed alternative models for guaranteeing proper and sustainable funding, free from political interference, in accordance with the Council of Europe standards.

The event was organized by the Parliamentary Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy in cooperation with UA:PBC and the project "European Union and Council of Europe working together to support freedom of media in Ukraine".

"We welcome the progress of the Public Broadcaster — the news of UA:PBC best meet the criteria of quality, the success of the new online platform is impressive, UA:PBC creates programs and provides objective information at a time when society needs it most of all — during the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic," Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, said.

At the same time, Ms Lytvynenko added that the situation with underfunding of the Public Broadcaster for the fourth year in a row highlights that the current funding model requires improvement, as it does not guarantee adequate funding and depends on political influences, does not allow the Public Broadcaster to plan and create content of high quality. Also, due to underfunding of the Public Broadcaster, every year there are alerts at the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists (https://go.coe.ile nt/SfId8).

During the discussion, Mykyta Poturaiev, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, stressed on the importance of full funding of the Public Broadcaster: “Public Broadcaster is an integral part of information security, and therefore saving on it is the same as saving on the Ukrainian army or law enforcement system". He added that he would not vote for the draft state budget, which provides for a significant reduction in funding for the Public Broadcaster.

Anka Feldhusen, Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine, underlined that the Public Broadcaster should receive a full funding in accordance with the law of Ukraine, because in times of fake news and an enormous number of sources of information, it is high-quality programs of the public broadcaster that can fight against disinformation: “Quality news help and enable the population to oppose information attacks. COVID-19 is a financial challenge, but disinformation is a part of the pandemic, and saving money where one can get independent information is saving in the wrong place. Funding for the Public Broadcaster must be long-term to guarantee its independence.”

Tobias Thyberg, Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine also highlighted that UA:PBC underfunding is an important issue of the Ukrainian public broadcaster: “Since Suspilne was set up in 2017 it has made huge progress, but it still faces important challenges, one of those challenges – is funding. It remains one of the most underfunded public service companies all over Europe. Another key challenge is an issue of the truly professional and transparently chosen supervisory board. We believe that without a properly functioning Public broadcasting system the media freedom is not possible, and without media freedom democracy is not possible”.

“In these times, it is important for Ukraine to have an independent PBC to provide quality journalism, also in the context of the COVID-19 situation and intensified disinformation campaigns. For the PBC to exercise that role, adequate financing from the state budget is essential. In view of the upcoming adoption of the 2021 State budget; we encourage the Parliament to provide the resources as foreseen by the law,” Stefan Schleuning, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of European Union to Ukraine, said.

Walter Braunohler, the Head of the U.S. Embassy's Public Affairs Section mentioned: “Ukrainian Public broadcaster occupies a crucial niche in Ukraine’s media environment by its national reach, editorial independence and commitments to public service journalism. Already we have seen huge gains of UA:PBC’s transition from state to service public broadcaster and looking forward to even more. Unfortunately, cuts to the operating budget leave Ukraine’s public broadcaster vulnerable to political pressure with low ability to compete with oligarch commercial broadcasters. Public broadcaster needs full support from the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian people to fully realize its important role”.

The Council of Europe has developed a number of standards on financing of public service broadcasting, and the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on Public Service Media Governance in 2012 set out the main criteria to be met by the system for financing public service broadcasters:

• It cannot be used to exert editorial influence or threaten institutional autonomy — either of which would undermine the operational independence of the public service media;
• The public service media is consulted over the level of funding required to meet their mission and purposes, and their views are taken into account when setting the level of funding;
• The funding provided is adequate to meet the agreed role and remit of the public service media, including offering sufficient forward security as to allow reasonable future planning;
• The process for deciding the level of funding should not be able to interfere with the public service media’s editorial autonomy.

During the discussion, Marius Dragomir, the Council of Europe consultant, presented the report of the Council of Europe on the funding system of the Ukrainian public broadcaster, prepared in 2019 (https://rm.coe.int/final-report-ukr/1680968566). The expert stressed that currently two scenarios for financing the Public broadcaster in Ukraine are realistic.

The first foresees the introduction of a targeted source of funding from a special fund of the state budget, which is formed as a result of payment of rent (fees) by users of radio frequency resources (e.g. broadcasters or telecommunications service providers).

And the second scenario is based on an improved version of the current financing model, according to which UA:PBC is financed from the general fund of the State Budget.

Marius Dragomir also stressed that the funding should be sufficient for UA:PBC to fulfill its mission of public broadcaster, and that the predictability and transparency of this funding should be guaranteed. Funding should not be used as a means of pressure, reward or subordination. All forms of financing must be backed by reliable, transparent and effective guarantees. Guards should be established to prevent interference both into the planning process and the approval of the amount of funding allocated.

“Public broadcaster represents all sides of the story equally, it is very important when citizens can access objective information and think critically about the events affecting their lives, especially around moments of national change such as elections,” Nic Bowler, Head of Ukraine Programmes, British Embassy in Ukraine mentioned.

Also, among the participants of the discussion there were:

• Svitlana Ostapa, Head of the Supervisory Board of UA:PBC
• Taras Shevchenko, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine
• Zurab Alasania, Head of Management Board of UA:PBC
• Boris Bergant, former Vice-President of the European Broadcasting Union
• Yevgenia Kravchuk, Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy
• Iryna Konstankevych, First Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy
• Mykola Kniazhytsky, Chair of the Sub-Committee on Culture of the Parliamentary Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy
• Vadym Miskyi, Secretary of the Supervisory Board of UA:PBC
• Ihor Rozkladai, Deputy Director, CEDEM
• Inna Hrebeniuk, member of the Board of UA:PBC

Participants underlined the important role of Public Broadcasting — to serve the public in all its diversity, to provide opportunities for various social groups, including cultural, language, national, religious and other minorities to receive and disseminate information, express themselves and exchange ideas.

The record of the discussion can be viewed at the link.

The project “EU and Council of Europe working together to support freedom of media in Ukraine”, funded by the EU and CoE, aims to enhance the role of media, its freedom and safety.