Kiselyov's ultimatum

The editor-in-chief of CJSC Sixth Channel Evgeny Kiselev said yesterday that the TVS channel may stop broadcasting immediately after June 23. He expressed his point of view in letters to TVS shareholders, as well as members of the Media-Socium supervisory board Arkady Volsky and Evgeny Primakov. In them, the editor-in-chief of TVS stated that the channel would stop broadcasting if the issues of its financing were not resolved. “The channel’s staff worked until the last minute, despite the fact that they were not paid, despite the shareholders’ struggle for control over the channel, but this cannot continue indefinitely,” the head of TVS wrote in a letter, emphasizing: “The channel continues to be subjected to formal mockery, and most importantly, there are no prospects for improvement.”

It turns out that, despite formal attempts by the head of the Ministry of Press, Mikhail Lesin, to resolve the situation, the fate of the channel is predetermined. The shareholders never agreed on the amount of the transaction, and the salary debts of TVS employees were never paid. So, in the current situation, the Ministry of Press can only make an official statement about the disconnection of TVS from the air and point to the temporary broadcaster. Thus, the Ministry of Press, by the way, will be able to fulfill Vladimir Putin’s promise and provide the federal viewer with the opportunity to watch the “Sports” channel - it is he who is the main contender for the vacant frequency.

However, MNVK does not lose hope of returning to the screen. Representatives of the corporation once again invited the Ministry of Press to sit down at the negotiating table to “identify the manufacturer of media products” for temporary broadcast on the sixth meter frequency, and to conclude a tripartite agreement between MNVK, the Ministry of Press and the manufacturing company.

Yesterday afternoon a meeting of the board of directors of Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corporation CJSC was held, at which a decision was made to prepare documents to begin resuming broadcasting on the sixth meter frequency.

In addition, the company has made personnel appointments. The board of directors of MNVK introduced the position of general director into its staffing table and appointed Pavel Chernovalov, chairman of the liquidation commission of MNVK, to act as these duties. The Board of Directors gave him the following instructions: “To prepare a detailed action plan for the resumption of broadcasting of the TV-6 channel, agreed with the interested structures, and to form a selection committee to identify a company for temporary broadcasting on Channel 6 until the resumption of TV-6 broadcasting in full.” However, a reasonable period of preparation was provided. This must be done before December 30 of the current year. So MNVK does not pretend to participate in the election campaign.

Maxim BALUTENKO