The Ukrainian government doesn't plan to stop supporting the telethon, Ukraine's state-run pool of TV channels created during wartime, before the end of the martial law, Interfax Ukraine reported on Oct. 31, citing Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi.
The comment comes after the European Commission criticized the telethon on Oct. 30, urging Kyiv to restore a "pluralistic media landscape." Tochytskyi said Ukraine "has taken into account" the European Commission's recommendations.
Brussels expects Ukraine to restore the work of all broadcasters in the pre-war format, questioning the telethon's objectivity. One of the European Commission's criticisms concerns the financing of the telethon from the state budget.
"We have already begun the path of change: step by step, we are ensuring that every citizen has access to public information and are actively engaging the resources of international partners to support the restoration of Ukrainian media," Tochytskyi said.
The European Commission's recommendations have been "taken into account," he went on. "The state plans to stop supporting the telethon after the end of martial law, focusing on the sustainable development of media infrastructure."
The so-called telethon, branded as "Yedyni Novyny" ("United News"), was launched at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. It was created by merging the coverage of Ukraine's biggest TV channels.
The telethon was initially seen as a legitimate response to Russia's aggression, but later, it was accused of monopolizing television coverage and stifling dissent. Some opposition television channels have complained that they were excluded from the telethon due to their political stance.
Suspilne, a Ukrainian public broadcaster, said on May 21 that it had launched its own news broadcasting on the Pershyi nationwide TV channel separate from the telethon.
Mykola Chernotytskyi, the head of Suspilne's Managing Board, clarified later that the company de jure remains part of the telethon but will no longer be represented in its time slots.
Prior to that, Suspilne's Supervisory Board Chairwoman Svitlana Ostapa said on Facebook that Suspilne was being pulled out from the telethon's prime-time evening slots.
Anastasiia Lapatina
(Updated: )
