A majority of the members of the Audiovisual Council (AC) decided at a meeting on Friday, 3 October, not to extend the broadcasting licence of the television station First in Moldova and not to offer a licence for the media service Familia, due to several violations, including its own media service programme concepts, according to a statement issued by the audiovisual communication authority.

The CA indicated that during the period 2022-2023, REAL RADIO SRL, the founder of the Familia station, was fined 10 fines in the amount of 157,000 lei for violations of provisions related to the production of local programmes, a fine of 7,000 lei for non-compliance with the General Concept of the Media Service and two public warnings, including non-compliance with provisions related to cultural responsibilities.

CA member Ruslan Mihalevschi said that there were suspicions of anti-competitive practices and the risk of a dominant position in the formation of public opinion, “as there are 7 television media services which according to several press investigations belong to and/or are affiliated with former Democratic Party President Vlad Plahotniuc”.

The Board member invoked certain circumstances relating to changes at the level of associates and administrators of media services. Thus, Elena Cudinova-Ghilescu, associate and sole beneficiary of REAL RADIO SRL, stated in a letter to the CA that she did not hold the position of administrator of the Familia station, but according to the data of the Public Services Agency she was administrator and sole associate of the station from 19 to 27 September 2023, the press release issued by the CA states.

“According to the provisions of Article 27 of the Audiovisual Media Services Code (CSMA), the broadcasting license is withdrawn if the provider presents false information to the CA, and Elena Cudinova-Ghilescu operated with such information, when she declared that she was not the administrator of REAL RADIO SRL. In addition, the sources of financing of this media service are not sufficiently substantiated, as the planned expenditure for the production of local programs exceeded the budget for the entire previous year, according to the annual activity report submitted by the provider. Licensing in this case encourages media concentration and does not ensure audiovisual pluralism,” Ruslan Mihalevschi said.

“There are reasonable suspicions about the final beneficiaries”

The Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Liliana Vitu, mentioned the sanctions of the Familia station for lack of local programmes, “the provider having the opportunity to demonstrate that it has production capacities and that it is serving the public interest during the 9 years of activity it has had”.

“There are reasonable suspicions about the final beneficiaries, as well as about the motivation for developing a TV station – it aims to acquire programmes, not to produce them itself, and the very reasoning of a TV station is to have its own better programmes than other stations”, added Liliana Vițu.

Board member Orest Dabija said that if the station was profitable, it could have turned around the situation regarding local programmes, and that extending the licence would be a precedent when the provider has repeated violations and does not try to resolve the situation.

According to CA member Tatiana Crestenco, the fact that Elena Cudinova-Ghilescu, despite informing the regulator that she did not hold the position of administrator of the Familia station, was administrator of Media Content Distribution SRL during the same period when she was a partner and administrator of REAL RADIO SRL, and the fact that the administrator was changed without the agreement of the CA, is “a justified reason not to vote for the extension of the licence”.

During the meeting, the representative of the station said that the administrator is in the process of identifying solutions for the acquisition and production of local audiovisual programmes.

Also on Friday, the CA considered the request of SC TELESISTEM TV SRL, the founder of the media service First in Moldova, to extend the broadcasting license of the station. The majority of members decided not to grant the application, as it did not comply with its own General Concept – a criterion for extending the validity of the licence, according to CSMA. According to a monitoring control carried out in September by the CA, First in Moldova’s main news programmes and broadcasts are currently on the ITV grid.

The ‘Primul în Moldova’ channel is one of six TV channels whose broadcasting licence was suspended by the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CSE) in December 2022.

ZdG wrote in the autumn of 2022 that TV stations First in Moldova and Accent TV had changed not only their administrator but also their Russian owners. The Russian company that owns the stations has a new founder. The Audiovisual Council has not been informed about these changes.

The television stations First in Moldova and Accent TV have changed not only their manager but also their Russian owners. The Russian company that owns the stations has a new founder. The Audiovisual Council has not been informed about these changes.