On the day the license for "1+1" expires, the channel is sounding the alarm because it has not yet received a copy of the renewed license. The channel claims that there is an attempt to overturn the National Council's decision to renew the license and carry out a "raider seizure" of the channel. The National Council explains that it requested updated information from the channel about its ultimate beneficial owners in connection with the nationalization of "PrivatBank", and that the license document can be issued by January 23.
On the night of December 29, the "1+1" TV channel published an appeal to the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy, and the Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman from the channel's management and staff accusing the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting of attempting to strip the channel of its license allegedly at the behest of the Presidential Administration.
Today, December 29, 2016, is the last day of the license for analog broadcasting of the 1+1 channel. Two weeks ago, on December 15, the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting unanimously voted to re-register and renew the license for the channel. However, the license has not been issued. During the consideration of the application, which lasted 6 months, no official complaints were received against the channel.
Over the past two weeks, we have been receiving information from various sources about an attempt to overturn this decision and carry out a raider seizure of the channel.
Dear Petro Oleksiyovich, as a person who, among other things, has invested his own funds and resources in the creation of media in Ukraine, you, more than anyone else, should understand the importance of this issue and the inadmissibility of the situation developing where, contrary to legal procedure, the channel cannot renew its license.
We want to remind you of the role of the media in general, and 1+1 in particular, during the Revolution of Dignity. During the reign of Yanukovych, both we and our colleagues from other media outlets - Channel 5, Channel 24, channels of other media groups - were accustomed to the need for constant resistance to pressure and attempts by the authorities to interfere in the work of the media. We are confident that from the stage of the Maidan, the three of you defended, among other things, the inadmissibility of repeating such a situation.
We are surprised and concerned that the National Council, whose members are appointed directly by the President and the Verkhovna Rada, is delaying the process of implementing its own decision. Over the past two weeks, we have received reports from reliable sources that it is the Presidential Administration that is trying to influence the National Council's decision-making and transfer control over the channel to other hands. We do not want to believe this and do not really understand whose interests may be behind such actions, but we are confident that you, as President of Ukraine, as guarantor of the Constitution, and the leaders of the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers, must ensure the implementation of the decision of December 15, 2016 in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine and demonstrate respect for the independence of the mass media.
The National Council has not had any comments or complaints about the 1+1 channel. Therefore, we do not understand why, on the day the analog license expires - December 29, and after we have paid the license fee, we are still not only in a situation of uncertainty, but also face the threat of having our broadcasting shut down or a new, outside management appointed to the 1+1 channel, which is nonsensical for a private company.
It is symbolic that January 1, 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of Ukraine's leading news service - TSN. The channel's journalists have repeatedly witnessed attempts to take control of the channel's editorial policy. However, the trust and support of millions of viewers has always helped to overcome difficult situations. We want to warn and caution those behind the attempts to shut down the channel, which is a daily source of news for millions of Ukrainians. Even without the paperwork, we have the legal right to continue broadcasting. We can no longer be intimidated, but we hope that in 2016, unlike the situation three years ago, the state itself is interested in carrying out legal procedures and the work of independent media.
Sincerely,
General Director of 1+1 Media V. Tkachenko
Director of the Information Broadcasting Department S. Popov
Director of the Department of Investigative Journalism M. Shilenko
TSN Tyzhden anchor A. Mazur
TSN anchor N. Moseychuk
TSN anchor L. Taran
1+1 anchor, Honored Artist of Ukraine Yu. Gorbunov
Head of the "Kvartal-95" Studio V. Zelensky