Strengthening Freedom of Media and Establishing a Public Broadcasting System in Ukraine

Back UNDERFINANCING OF THE PUBLIC BROADCASTER – THREAT TO ITS INDEPENDENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS

On 6 July 2017 a press-conference “Underfinancing of the Public Broadcaster – threat to its independence and effectiveness” was held at the premises of information and news agency “Ukrinform”. The event was organised by the Supervisory Board of PJSC “National Public Television and Radio Broadcasting Company” (UA:PBC) with the support of the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening Freedom of Media and Establishing a Public Broadcasting System in Ukraine”,

Head of the Supervisory Board of UA:PBC Tetiana Lebedieva emphasized the importance of full financing of the Public Broadcaster: “Though it may seem to someone that the issue of UA:PBC is an narrow departmental matter, but in our opinion, it a question of national importance. After all, establishment of Public Broadcasting is one of the key reforms which brings Ukraine closer to the club of civilized countries. Therefore, the entire world, without any exaggeration, is following at the moment how this reform is being implemented”.

According to Мårten Ehnberg, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine the independence of public broadcasters is achieved through the independent management, independent editorial policy and proper financing. “The Council of Europe support with setting fully-fledged public broadcaster in line with the legislation in force was and remains the Council of Europe’s key priority”, he underlined.

Head of the Management Board of UA:PBC Zurab Alasania said: “We have to present a product in autumn. Viewers and listeners do not care about the reason why we are slow - they need to see the product. We have looked at the figures carefully and come to the conclusion that for the production of content for 28 TV and radio companies we have 13 million left. Underfinanced parts have to be added. These parts include funds not only for maintenance of the company but also for those changes which have to lead to real changes both in broadcasting and structure wise. This is step-by-step work which should be started now”.

Bohdan Chervak, First Deputy Head of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine (hereinafter – the State Committee) has assured that the State Committee as a shareholder is aware of its responsibility for not only steps that have been made already, but for the further steps as well. “We have given the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine all the documents related to the underfinancing sum. We have pointed out to the Ministry of Finance that it is a violation of the law, and that full financing of UA: PBC shall be ensured. We have eliminated the problem of underfinancing was possible due to bureaucratic procedures”, he said.

In his turn, Artem Bidenko, State Secretary of the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine said: “The Minister assured that he would lobby the issue of full financing of the Public Broadcaster before the Government. And that is actually happening. So, everything that the Public Broadcaster is entitled to get shall be paid. Premier Minister has recently stated that as well”.

Igor Rozkladai, lead expert of the RPR-Media Group, recalled that in 1994 the Minister of Information and Press of Ukraine signed the public broadcasting guidelines that defined the development and transformation of former state media in Eastern Europe. “In 2009 Council of Europe reminded that for independence and impartiality of the broadcaster there should be an proper financing. Our law stipulates that the public broadcaster is to receive UAH 1,28 billion. European Broadcasting Union recommended to set funding at the level of 2 billion. The state has to fulfil its financial obligation so that the broadcaster is able to change structure-wise and content-wise, which is the overall reason for the reform. We call upon the Parliament and the Government to ensure the amount of funding that belongs to Public Broadcaster by law”, the expert noted.

During the press-conference members of the UA:PBC Supervisory Board announced about their public appeal to the Parliament. They expressed their deep concern regarding the underfinancing of the Public Broadcasting in 2017 that poses a threat to the reform process.

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The Council of Europe Project “Strengthening Freedom of the Media and Establishing a Public Broadcasting System in Ukraine” aims to enhance the role of media and the Public broadcasting in particular as instruments for consensus building in the Ukrainian society. The Project is implemented in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2015-2017.

Follow the Media Projects of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CoEUPSIS and on Twitter @UkraineCoE

For more information visit the Council of Europe web-site: https://www.coe.int/en/web/kyiv/freedom-of-media-in-ukraine

Project’s publications can be found at https://issuu.com/mediaprojects_coe

Kyiv, Ukraine 07 July 2017

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What is the Project about?

The Council of Europe Project “Strengthening Freedom of the Media and Establishing a Public Broadcasting System in Ukraine” is aimed to enhance the role of media and the public broadcaster in particular as an instrument for consensus building in the Ukrainian society.

Who finances the Project and what is its duration?

The total budget of the Project is 1,93 mln euro. In 2016, the Project is financed from the budget of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2015-2017. The consortium of contributors to the Action Plan for Ukraine includes 16 countries: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. The Project’s implementation period is 1 January 2016 - 31 December 2018.

What is the CoE Action Plan for Ukraine 2015-2017?

The Action Plan for Ukraine 2015-2017 is a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and Ukrainian authorities. The Action Plan intends to support Ukraine in fulfilling its statutory and specific obligations as a Council of Europe member state and to contribute towards addressing fundamental issues of human rights and rule of law in Ukraine. The initiative renews the commitment of the Council of Europe to assist Ukraine in its necessary reform agenda in the areas of expertise of the Council of Europe – human rights, the rule of law and democracy.

The Action Plan reflects the priorities of the country, as well as identified in the most recent findings of Council of Europe’s monitoring bodies, resolutions and recommendations with respect to Ukraine. Projects in the Action Plan are to be funded from multiple sources, and co-ordinated with the European Union delegation. Funding is provided from the Council of Europe’s ordinary budget as well as voluntary contributions from donor countries and international organisations.

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What is the situation?

The Council of Europe has systematically supported the process of establishing public broadcasting in Ukraine.Transforming the state broadcasters into the public service broadcasting channels is in line with relevant Council of Europe standards and is one of the Ukraine’s obligations to the Council of Europe enshrined in Resolution 1466 (2005) “On honouring the obligations and commitments of Ukraine”.Assistance with setting a fully-fledged public broadcaster in accordance with the new legislation adopted in April 2014 and March 2015 will remain a crucial priority as enshrined in the current Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine for 2015-2017.

Ukraine has entered a crucial and decisive phase of launching a public broadcasting system. The creation of the legal entity of public broadcaster in Ukraine is expected in the beginning of 2016. However, the legal framework for the media and the capacity of the future public broadcasting organisation of Ukraine to produce quality content needs to be substantially improved. Moreover, it is critically important to have reformed regional chapters of the public broadcasting, which would follow the standards of the public broadcasting and would positively impact media environment at the regional level as Ukraine is just one step from the decentralisation reform.

On 27 January 2016, the Strategy for development of Ukraine’s legislation on freedom of expression and mass media activity in line with European standards has been adopted by the members of the Parliamentary Committee as a strategic document for revising Ukrainian legislation.

The Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information” has been operating since 2011. The Ukrainian Law is a strong one as measured by the RTI Rating and since 2011 the legal framework on access to public information has been substantially reinforced through adoption of amendments, however, at the same time, as it is underlined by the national and CoE experts and civil society, there remain some problems in applying the Law in practice, due in part to some of the shortcomings in the legislation that need to be addressed taking into account the fact that the access to information-related issues are important anti-corruption conditionality.

What are the expected results of the Project?

Improved capacity of the public broadcasting system to manage the transition from a state-owned company. A model of the regional public broadcaster is developed based on the expert advice.
Capacity of the public broadcaster to enable the production of higher-quality programming is increased as a result of trainings, internal procedures for raising editorial and professional standards are developed and introduced.
Increased institutional capacity of the public broadcaster’s Supervisory Board and its Secretariat. Necessary regulations are developed based on the expert advice and training.
Improved understanding of the European standards and practices around media freedom and public broadcasting service among legislative and executive authorities.
Improved access to official documents and information held by public authorities to media professionals and general public, while individual rights to privacy and to control personal data protected.

Who do we plan to work with?

Our main partners are the National Television Company of Ukraine (which is being transformed into the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine), the Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information Policy, the National TV and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine, the State Committee on TV and Radio Broadcasting, Ukrainian Commissioner for human rights, civil society and media organizations, relevant professional associations.

How to stay in touch with the Project?

If you are interested in activities of the Рroject please follow us on Project’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CoEUPSIS.

Contacts:
8 Illinska str., 8 entrance, 5th floor
04070 Kyiv, Ukraine
+380443399210