Reporters of RISE Moldova analyzed more than 50 documents concerning founders of Transnistrian media outlets and ascertained that most of the newspapers and TV channels in the breakaway republic are controlled by business groups or special departments of the region, whose work is coordinated with Russia, IPN reports.
“The so-called ‘state’ mass media are coordinated by a separate department that is called the State Mass Media Service. This forms part of the executive branch that is subordinated to the government of the unrecognized republic. The Service manages a special body called “Pridnestrovskaia gazeta” (“Transnistrian paper”), which consists of a number of newspapers and of a news agency,” says the journalistic investigation.
The ‘state’ holding, which is financed with local taxes paid by taxpayers, obeys the administration of the so-called president of the region. This includes the ‘republican’ media (TV channel “Pervyi pridnestrovskii”, radio stations “Radio 1” and “Radio Pridnestrovie”, news agencies “Novosti Pridnestrovie” and “Vesti PMR” and papers “Pridnestrovie”, “Adevarul Nistrean” and “Gomin”). The holding also includes the district mass media that is controlled by the administration of towns (“Dnestrovskaia pravda” (Tiraspol), “Novosti” (Rybnitsa), “Zarea Pridnestrovie” (Dubasari) and “Drujba” (Grigoriopol).
”The expenditure on the ‘state’ mass media grows annually. In 2015, the spending was of over 32 million Transnistrian rubles (about US$3 million), while this year the draft budget of the self-proclaimed Transnistrian republic envisions over 45 million Transnistrian rubles (about US$4 million) for the needs of the ‘state’ mass media. This means that 100 rubles (about US$10) will be retained from each resident of the region for financing the local media,” say the authors of the investigation.
According to RISE Moldova, the private mass media, with small exceptions, are also controlled by persons close to the current leader of the Transnistrian region Yevgheny Shevchuk or by two local oligarchs – the heads of the Sheriff holding Victor Gusan and Ilia Kazmaly.
