Euro TV and Antena C could be liquidated as public institutions.

Euro TV and Antena C could be liquidated as public institutions. This is the opinion expressed in an article from the “Timpul de Dimineata” daily, cited by Info-Prim Neo. The author presents the opinions of some experts, which consider that the project of the Audio-Visual Code that will probably be examined in the first reading by the Parliament on Saturday, stipulates the presence of a single public broadcaster: the “Teleradio-Moldova” company. If adopted, this law could lead to the privatization of these municipal radio and television stations. Asked by the daily’s reporter, the directors of the stations declared that the future change of the statute will harm first of all the population. “Until now, Moldovans had alternative informing sources, but the Audio-Visual Code doesn’t stipulate this fact and in this way it violates the freedom of speech”, considers the director of Antena C, Vasile State. The director of “Euro TV” Arcadie Gherasim, says that “a project, which doesn’t allow to the local public administration bodies to have their own source of informing lays one more brick for the government’s vertical”. “If another political force would have had the power in a region, it wouldn’t have the possibility to express itself, its rights being restricted, because the local public administrations won’t be able to invest more than 25% of statutory capital of a private station. It’s a very tricky project that has as a main objective overtaking by the present government of the whole informational space”, declared Arcadie Gherasim. He thinks that the articles regarding the protection of the linguistic and national patrimony in the specified field are “some nice dreams”, because the private companies will broadcast their programs “in the language, for which they will be paid”. “The government has another objective. Some time ago was declared that in the case there will not be established some order at the “Teleradio-Moldova”, the company will be privatized. In this order, the Code could be a prelude in the process of the Company’s monopolisation”, declared also Ghenadie Gherasim. Many NGOs that activate in the mass-media field have put forward to the parliament a Grievance, that requests to postpone the examination of the Audio-Visual Code project for a month, time that could be used by the Parliament to organize meetings with the civil society and to accept the proposals that will come from the citizens. According to their opinion the process of elaborating the Code was carried out in a totally un-transparent manner.