The Ukrainian media market underwent historic changes this week as several media assets suddenly changed hands – one of them amid a very dirty scandal over ownership, which makes all sides look bad.
TVi, an opposition channel known for its critical reports and hard-hitting investigations, fell victim to an internal conflict among CEOs and investors. By the time that the Kyiv Post went to press, it was rebroadcasting year-old shows, while journalists and owners continued to quarrel for a third day.
At the same time, member of parliament and millionaire businessman Petro Poroshenko sold his stake in the influential Korrespondent magazine, its sister site korrespondent. net and Nashe Radio station to United Media Holding, which is now the sole owner of these assets.
Incidentally, in recent weeks TVi and United Media Holding often featured in rumors and even articles claiming they were being acquired by Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov or young oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko, both members of “The Family” group close to the president’s elder son Oleksandr Yanukovych. All sides denied any attempts to buy or sell the assets.
Yet on April 23, TVi channel’s press service announced a change in ownership, and the appointment of a new CEO. Russian businessman Konstantin Kagalovsky, who has been the sole investor and beneficiary owner of TVi, was suddenly replaced with little-known New York-based Ukraine-born Alexander Altman as the owner. Artem Shevchenko, who anchored an investigative program, became the new CEO.
But conflicts and lies surfaced almost immediately.
It turned out that United Kingdom-registered company Balmore Invest recently obtained control of 95 percent of the channel. However, according to official information, the company has just three months from April 16 to provide documentation or else it will be liquidated. Asked about this, Altman told Kyiv Post he did not know about this issue.
Meanwhile, Nataliya Katerynchuk, TVi’s CEO before April 23, said guards didn’t allow her and Kagalovsky inside the channel’s office. She called the police and reported a raider attack.
“The strategy (of the new investors) is simple: gain control over the company and then sell it to someone who will close the channel or will make a music channel of it,” Kagalovsky said during an emergency press conference that he and Katerynchuk held on the same day.
Kagalovsky said he continues to be the sole owner of the channel, adding that in the past year he has not talked to anyone about TVi’s possible sale: “I didn’t plan to sell the channel and I’m not planning it now.” The statement went contrary to some consolidation procedures the company underwent in the last couple of months, which indicated a possible preparation for sale. Kagalovsky said he had done it to simplify the ownership structure.
Shevchenko, in the meantime, downplayed the significance of changes in the channel’s ownership structure. As he explained to the LB.ua web-site, Altman is just a new investor of TVi. “There was no raider attack,” he emphasized.
Although Shevchenko said there would be no change in the channel’s editorial policy, the changes were evident on the very first day. Shevchenko banned Katerynchuk from coming to a show where both sides of the conflict were invited.
The conflict escalated further as 40 TVi journalists announced a strike, and the air time was filled with repeats of old shows. Then dismissals started as one of the channel’s most popular anchormen, Pavel Sheremet, was fired on April 24. In the last days he tweeded frequently about the channel’s conflicts.
Three days on, the mess was still big as all sides of the conflict seemed to be drowning in mutual accusations, lies, and tangled trains of offshore companies in the channel’s ownership structure.
Compared to this mess, the transfer of ownership in Korrespondent magazine went very smoothly indeed, and the only intrigue that remained was why Poroshenko was giving up on these media assets despite his interest in running for Kyiv mayor.
Poroshenko, who remains the owner of Channel 5 TV station, indicated that he might start another media project. “I think that our partnership with UMH has been very fruitful. That’s why I’m planning to focus on a new large-scale media project,” he told Kommersant newspaper.
The Ukrainian media speculated that Poroshenko might start a new city newspaper, but a source close to him told the Kyiv Post that he and his team are discussing the idea of creating an intellectual platform that should attract influential people to discuss key problems of Kyiv. But it’s not known yet what media could be a basis for such a platform. It might be Poroshenko’s Channel 5, the source suggested.
Vitaliy Sych, chief editor of Korrespondent magazine, said that he expects no changes in the editorial policy after the change of ownership.
“(UMH majority shareholder Borys) Lozhkin is consolidating his assets in anticipation of an IPO (initial public offering). From the point of view of corporate governance, as I understand it, such a company looks more attractive to investors than a company with large external partners in specific projects,” Sych said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Kateryna Kapliuk can be reached at [email protected].
