The draft Audiovisual Code violates some provisions of WTO

Not any serious company will be willing to invest in the Audiovisual of Moldova if it will not have the power of taking decisions, declared the director of the “Sun Communications” joint company, John Maxemchuk at the public debates regarding the draft Audiovisual Code, which took place in Chisinau, on Friday, May 19. The draft Code, stipulates that when founding a broadcasting company in Moldova, the participation share of the foreign artificial or natural persons will be lower than the percent needed for blocking decisions. According to Maxemchuk, this stipulation could have a negative impact on the development of the audiovisual because of the lack of foreign investments. The activity interdiction for foreign investors is also an infringement of some WTO provisions, added John Maxemchuk. The spokesman of the “Moldova Noastra” Alliance, Victor Osipov mentioned that this stipulation is contrary to the provisions of the Moldova-EU Action Plan, demanding its exclusion out of the project. The same opinion was expressed by the jurist Olivia Partsac, on the grounds that these provisions come from the tradition of seeing foreign broadcasters as enemies. The involvement of the foreign investments in the audiovisual area of the Republic of Moldova must not be seen as a danger, but as development, declared Partsac. The draft Audiovisual Code was adopted in first reading by the Parliament on April 6, 2006. The Code includes 9 chapters and 69 articles. Many aspects of the Audiovisual Code are being criticized by experts, jurists and politicians. The proposals formulated by the experts on Friday will be submitted to the Parliament for examination.