"General Media Group CORP" company, holder of the broadcast licenses of Prime TV and Publika TV stations, claims that "the politicians of the parties that are governing the Republic of Moldova, using their public positions, but also the state institutions that they have subordinated and which they control politically, continue their media and institutional attack against its Prime TV and Publika TV stations, which they could not enslave from an editorial point of view and which have elected, despite pressures and threats, not to give in and pursue an editorial policy based on equidistance principles ”, IPN reports.
The reaction can be found in a statement and is as a result of the information made public by the chair of the Parliamentary Committee on national security, defence and public order, Chiril Moţpan, regarding the financing sources of the TV stations concerned. According to "General Media Group CORP", the information published by the MP is "mainly erroneous, of a commercial nature, and concerns the internal activity and economic relations between a private company, which holds audiovisual licenses, and its business partners, regardless of their status”.
"It is an inadequate act, an act of intimidation, denigration, derision in respect of the information strictly related to the commercial relations of some economic partners, aiming at manipulating the public opinion, inducing the idea that these data would be disclosures of some illegal facts, but, actually, they are, in part, public information, which have no element that could be considered illegal”, says the company statement.
In a Facebook post, MP Chiril Moţpan mentions that, since 2015 until now, the "General Media Group" Ltd company, which holds the broadcast licenses of Prime TV and Publica TV stations, has obtained from different legal entities and natural persons, significant financial means. "The first financier is, of course, the owner, Vladimir Plahotniuc, who transferred into the company account 43 million 358 thousand lei, as contribution to the share capital and 48 million 607 thousand lei, in the form of a loan. According to Chiril Moţpan, "Casa Media Corp" Ltd transferred in the accounts of General Media Group 40 918 500, for the broadcast time; SCE "Casa Media Plus" Ltd - 65 300 300 lei for the broadcast time; "Artmarket" Ltd - 636 350 lei for advertising services; "Radio Media Group INC" Ltd contributed with 1 million and 995 lei; the candidate for the office of president of the Republic of Moldova (the electoral fund) transferred 14 900 591 lei. He also mentioned that the Democratic Party of Moldova paid 14 108 139 lei to the respective company for the advertising services.
In the aforementioned post, the Chair of the Parliamentary Commission also provided more figures on the financing of other radio and TV stations.
