Teleradio Moldova hopes central authorities will increase budget resources allocated to it

The management of Teleradio Moldova Company hopes the central authorities will expand the resources allocated to it from the budget so that it is able to implement new technologies and improve the quality of programmes. At a news conference held on Friday to mark one year of the creation of TV Moldova International (TVMI), Teleradio Moldova president Valentin Todercan voiced hope that the central authorities will realise that an international television channel deserves to be financed from the state budget and that this thing would happen soon. According to Todercan, the launch and running of this channel cost not much because during a year the number of employees rose to 12 persons. The salaries are very low. The largest part of the resources, about 90,000 euros, went to pay for the satellite retransmission services. The channel needs budget resources to extend the coverage and the broadcast schedule, to implement new projects, to improve the technical capacity and consolidate the creation resources. Though the profits of Teleradio-Moldova rose to 16 million lei last year, Valentin Todercan says that a budget of 51 million lei, 27 million lei of which is used for salaries only, is too small to allow purchasing new equipment and improving the quality of the programmes. Valentin Todercan says that TVMI now covers 60% of the globe, including Canada, the US, a large part of Latin America, India and Ural, as well as Africa and Europe. The major objective for this year is to extend the broadcast area, to produce programmes in other languages, interactive programmes that are popular abroad and programmes about the possibilities of the Moldovan citizens from abroad of investing in the Moldovan economy. When TVMI started to work, it broadcast only two hours a day. Now it transmits original programs for six-seven hours a day. The rest of the broadcast schedule includes programmes produced by Moldova 1. TVMI programme director Ludmila Barba said that the newscast “Moldova Here and Now” is the channel’s visiting card. It is broadcast daily at fixed hours. Two news bulletins summing up the political, economic, social, cultural and sports events are put on the air every weekend. The interactive programmes during which the relatives from Moldova can send online messages to those that are abroad are very popular. Among such programmes are “A Trinket for the Beloved Ones”, a televised marathon organized between March 1 and 10, “Revival of Hopes” broadcast on Easter, the project “Moldovans from Everywhere”. In 2008, TVMI intends to launch several new projects, including the programme “TOP-10 Moldova” during which the public would be able to cast their votes for the favourite singer and song. Valentin Todercan said that after nine months of activity the company managed to increase the salaries of the personnel. He stated that the pays of all the staff members will be raised by 800-900 lei from January 1, 2008 and the salaries paid after September 1, 2007 will be recalculated on the basis of these raises. The average salary would rise to 2,900 lei. The president of Teleradio Moldova also said that the broadcast time at Moldova 1 was extended from 7 to 18-19 hours and at Radio Moldova from 18 to 24 hours. Among other accomplishments is the renewal of the equipment, the participation in Eurovision, the production of films. This year, Todercan hopes to initiate a broader re-technologisation of the company.