You're reading: TVi under attack, again

The troubles of TVi, the Ukrainian television channel that digs hardest to uncover corruption by authorities, turned from bad to worse this past week.

The criminal tax investigation into the channel’s management, widely viewed as politically motivated, was dropped several weeks ago following protests and international alarm. But now the station claims it is being pushed out of cable networks in some of the nation’s most populous regions.


On Aug. 13, TVi was turned off by nine cable network operators in the eastern Ukrainian steel and coal mining towns of Donetsk and Mariupol. It was replaced with local channels Dom Kino and Donbass. The move follows a massive blackout by Triolan, a major cable operator, which switched the channel off in 11 cities on July 20.


The July blackout alone meant that TVi lost an estimated 200,000 subscribers, decreasing its already modest audience. The channel has only been available through cable and online after its licenses were revoked by the National Television and Radio Council in 2011.


The Triolan decision came after Ukrainian prosecutors opened a criminal case against TVi head Mykola Kniazhytsky citing tax evasion. They closed the case weeks ago amid mounting pressure, citing “lack of evidence.”


But the damage to the station’s reach had already been done. Kniazhytsky is now running for parliament on the United Opposition party ticket.


TVi’s managers said the cable networks are being pressured by the authorities to silence the critical channel ahead of the fall election.


“To win the elections the [pro-presidential and ruling] Party of Regions needs to preserve [and win back dwindling voter support] in the south and east of Ukraine. That’s why they need to disconnect TVi,” said Natalia Katerynchuk, deputy head of the channel.


Ukraine’s authorities deny such allegations. President Viktor Yanukovych even spoke out in defense of the channel last month calling upon officials to stop pressuring the media.


Katerynchuk of TVi said cable networks privately complain the supervisory body is pressuring them.


“In private phone talks cable operators say regional representatives of National Television and Radio Council force them to kick out TVi from their networks,” she said.


Natalia Sokolovska, press officer of the National Television and Radio Council, called the allegations “untruthful.”


“We didn’t receive any information about this from the regions,” she said.


Donetsk mayor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko, a Party of Regions member, described TVi’s claims as a “joke.”


But Viktoria Siumar, head of Kyiv’s Institute of Mass Information, believes the campaign against TVi is “not an empty phrase.”


“If we analyze the content of TVi and the other national channels, it is obvious their news is sharper, more critical and balanced,” she said. “The current authorities don’t like this criticism, especially if their potential electorate sees it.”


The cable networks, meanwhile, claim that blackouts are happening for technical reasons. But TVi journalist Denys Bihus claims to have amassed evidence to the contrary.


“We have a copy of the letter, which [Triolan managers] sent to all regional engineers with a demand to replace TVi with Bank TV,” Bihus said. Bank TV is a National Bank of Ukraine channel, financed by the taxpayers.


Ukraine’s central bank, headed by a close Yanukovych associate, launched Bank TV this year, supposedly to better inform citizens about the banking industry and financial issues. TVi is owned by a Russian émigré and claims to be independently managed by its Ukrainian staff of editors and journalists.


Katerynchuk said TVi was preparing to file an appeal to the general prosecutor to investigate the blackouts. She will file it after Bihus’ journalistic investigation airs.


 


Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected].