The Council of Europe Information Society Department, DGI has provided a grant in amount of 65.760 EUR to the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) aimed at supporting urgent needs of the company due to Russian aggression against Ukraine, namely to cover accommodation of the UA:PBC staff members relocated from the headquarters in Kyiv and other cities affected by the war to Lviv.

This action was requested by the leadership of the Ukrainian public broadcaster, which is a long-term beneficiary and partner of the Council of Europe co-operation projects, in order to support uninterrupted operations of the UA:PBC during the times of war.

“On 24 February 2022 the team of Ukrainian public broadcaster like many other Ukrainians had to leave their homes and offices. Thanks to provided assistance from the Council of Europe we managed to accommodate the compact group of Public broadcaster’s staff all together in a relatively safe place which allowed us to continue information marathon at all platforms. We are very grateful for this opportunity which enabled us to keep informing our citizens about ongoing events so that everyone could get vitally important information in order to protect themselves and their families”, said Mykola Chernotytskyi, head of the managing board of Ukrainian public broadcaster UA:PBC.

Within the priority adjustment to the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2022, the Division for Co-operation on Freedom of Expression of the Information Society Department is planning further activities to support the Ukrainian public broadcaster and other partners to enable their operations and ensuring sustainability of the country’s media.