The FINANCIAL — Certain cable operators of southeastern Ukraine have refused to follow the ruling of the National Council for TV Broadcasting, which committed them to cease broadcast of some TV channels of Russia, Segodnya, Russian language Kiev-based tabloid newspaper reported.
The list of TV channels banned in Ukraine sets forth REN TV, Pervy Channel, Worldwide Net, RTR Planeta and TVTs International. In the National Council, they say that, in time of broadcast, the cable operators tend to violate Ukrainian laws in part of the copyright and don't provide for Ukrainian-language doubling.
Meanwhile, the banned channels still cover Zaporozhie, Odessa, Lugansk, Kharkov, Crimea and other settlements of southeastern Ukraine. The cable operators of Kiev and western Ukraine followed the order of the National Council. But Volya Co. that has the widest subscriber base of Kiev cable TV hasn't switched off Pervy Channel, reasoning that the latter would ultimately agree with the National Council and the claims to it would be dropped.
According to Kommesant, Russia based newspaper, Renome and the Black Sea companies refused to disconnect Russia's channels in Odessa. In some cities, including Sevastopol, the local authorities passed special rulings to evade executing the National Council's resolution.
According to the representative of the Volia Company, talks are going on with the channels, whose broadcasting was banned. If the talks are successful, the broadcasting of the channels will be resumed, Itar-Tas, Russia based news agency, declared.
Tamara Kravchenko, a representative of the National Council for TV and Radio Broadcasting reminded that the decision on the termination of broadcasting had been made a month before, without giving the exact date. Speaking in an interview with Itar-Tass, she added that the reason for the decision was the fact that “the broadcasting of the four Russian TV channels was not adapted to Ukrainian legislation.” She did not explain what they meant by “adaptation.”
Meanwhile, the Crimean Supreme Council is going to forward an application to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, pointing to the illegal character of the termination of broadcasting of a number of Russian TV channels, said Anatoly Gritsenko, speaker of the Crimean parliament. According to Gritsenko, “the decision of the National Council evoked serious concern among the Crimean population.” This was confirmed by the resolution adopted by the Sevastopol City Council, which refused on Friday to ban the broadcasting of the Russian TV channels.
RosBusinessConsulting, Russia based informational agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is confident that, unless Ukraine's decision to shut down Russian TV channels has been purely political, the republic can be persuaded against this move during talks, as he said in Moscow today.
Georgia banned Russian channel soon after Russian military forces occupied territories of Georgia in August.
Lavrov reiterated that Georgia had banned Russian channels for purely political reasons. The Ukrainian authorities, however, maintain that their ban on Russian-language channels was not political, saying that it was imposed because Russian TV companies did not comply with the Ukrainian law. If there are no politics involved in the matter, it can be settled then, Lavrov stated. He expressed hope that Ukraine would lift the ban on the channels, as Russian citizens living in Ukraine must be allowed access to all media.
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