The infighting of old and new owners completely paralyzed the channel’s broadcasting as its journalists went on strike, rightfully demanding investigation and full disclosure about TVi’s ownership, no censorship and a pledge of management non-interference in editorial independence. 

Things turned from bad to worse when the information about the channel’s old and new ownership structure began to surface. 

Then the public found out that TVi’s old majority owner Kostantin Kagalovskiy chose to own the channel through Wilcox Ventures, registered in the British Virgin Islands, a tiny cluster of islands in the Atlantic Ocean with a population of a little more than 20,000 people considered one of the least transparent offshore jurisdictions. 

That Kagalovskiy chose to register his business this way not only jeopardizes the channel’s integrity but also seemingly has led to his current problems. It seems that its proxy director in the past registered companies under her maiden name, which appears on a power of attorney letter that allegedly enabled the new owner Aleksandr Altman to obtain control over the channel. The validity of this letter, which no one appears to have seen, remains under dispute.

But Altman, whatever his motives for snatching the channel, appears to be repeating Kagalovskiy’s mistakes by registering his ownership in a highly non-transparent way.

His United Kingdom company Balmore Invest Limited, currently controlling 95 percent of TVi, is listed in a  company registry as under liquidation, as its owners and management failed to submit proper reports on time. No wonder, as its nominee director and shareholder Rachel Amy Erickson simultaneously runs 274 companies in the UK alone. Should Altman decide to sell the channel in the future, owning the channel through such a shelf structure with proxy director and owner is ideal for keeping the transaction completely discreet. 

Unfortunately, TVi is far from alone, as the majority of Ukraine’s media organizations prefer to hide their owners offshore. And though it’s a tendency that plagues Ukraine’s economy in general, hiding ownership of media organizations offshore seems especially wrong and unethical, as it greatly undermines integrity of the media. 

Regardless of the way the TVi conflict is resolved, the first thing that either owners should do is to move the company records to Ukraine, the country they work and report in, and list the names of beneficiary owners. Other media should also follow suit.