Deputies in Mykolaiv spent an hour and a half discussing the reform of the communal TV channel, which provides for full maintenance of the media from the budget

On December 19, during the meeting of the Planning and Budget Commission of the Mykolaiv City Council, the deputies discussed for over an hour the topic of reforming the communal TV channel MART and changing the form of its financing — in fact, it is proposed to transfer the TV channel to 100 percent support from the budget.

NikVesti writes about it.

The Law of Ukraine «On Media» provides for the reform of communal television and radio companies, which are now being transformed into public audiovisual media. The reform is aimed at protecting companies from the influence of the owner and promoting their independence. The goal is for them to be able to convey local information to their audience and be a tool for dialogue within communities.

Ukraine has already passed the reform of the denationalization of the press and the creation of Public Television on the basis of the state television company. However, communal TV channels and radio were not reformed. They are owned by local self-government bodies and financed from local budgets. According to the regulator, 138 such companies are registered, 82 companies are currently operating, Detektor Media reported in April this year.

The law provides for four options for the reform of communal TV channels:

• reorganization into a communal unitary (non-commercial) enterprise,
• withdrawal from the ownership structure of the local government and transfer to its collective,
• privatization,
• termination or cancellation of the license if the company does not make any changes.

The law regulates the issue of public audiovisual media in its section III. And also allocates half a year from the moment of the abolition of martial law to the reform of communal television and radio organizations, writes the Institute of Mass Information.

The public organization National Media Association is implementing a pilot project for 5 communal television companies, which will «roll out the reform of communal TROs» and the most optimal reform mechanism will be worked out, which will be offered to all communal TV and radio companies, Detector Media reported in April.

The executive director of NAM Kateryna Miasnikova also appealed to the Mykolaiv city mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych and the secretary of the city council Dmytro Falko with a call to «responsibly and carefully approach the process of creating audiovisual media of the Mykolaiv community through the transformation of the KP TRK MART into a communal non-profit enterprise TRK MART. A copy of the letter is available in the editorial office of NikVesti.

We will remind you that the municipal enterprise Teleradiocompaniia MART of the Mykolaiv City Council addressed a letter to the mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, in which he asks to provide 12.7 million hryvnias in the city budget for financing the TV channel in 2024. The company made calculations taking into account the possible adoption by the deputies of the decision to reform MART from a communal enterprise (KP) to a communal non-commercial enterprise (NPC).

Later, this issue was considered by the city council's legality and transparency commission. However, the deputies did not support this decision and recommended that this draft decision be removed from the session.

The deputies of the Mykolaiv City Council are offered two decisions for approval at once:

• on the reorganization of the TV channel by transforming it from a communal enterprise (KP) into a communal non-commercial enterprise (NPC);
• on the extension of the target program and the funding of the TV channel in the amount of 12.7 million hryvnias for a separate term: this is money for salaries, utilities and the purchase of new equipment for the studio.

During the meeting of the budget committee of the Mykolaiv City Council, the deputies discussed in detail the expediency of making such a decision during the war and in a hurry.

Speaking before the deputies, the managers of the TV channel, the director and editor-in-chief Vitaliy Meheda, as well as the program director Yurii Tazarachev, insisted that the city council should fulfill the norms of the law on media and reform the TV channel precisely by turning it into a KNP.

«The legislator understands that the media, especially the community in such a difficult situation, in which the city of Mykolaiv is now, provides information needs, it works. The legislator sees the way to solve this problem exactly as he proposes this law. There is no self-activity here. The law is so written, sooner or later this transformation will take place. We just ask that it happen earlier, that's all. MART television company today is actively involved in the information support of the activities of the local government. One way or another, we receive money from them (from the executive bodies of the city council and the executive committee, note). Within the framework of existing agreements. There were, they are, and we are working out these contracts. Well, actually, I don't think that the expenses that the Mykolaiv City Council and the Mykolaiv community are paying for our company will change in any fundamental way,» said Vitalii Meheda, answering the questions of the deputies.

Screenshot from the video broadcast of the meeting of the budget commission of Mykolaiv City Council on December 19

Yurii Tazarachev, in turn, noted that if the deputies do not put MART shopping center on full support from the budget, they will have to look for ways to make money or fire people.

«It is the end of the year, and if this is not voted on at the session, then we do not know how we will live in 2024. We do not know how the money for the same contracts will appear in the budget for us. We don't know how it will be. And we will have to survive again, we will have to fire people again, do something, not always pay, or send them to auctions. It's, well, now that there's a media law out there that says, you have to keep the media, the public media. This is such legislation. And yes, if someone doesn't have some numbers, well, it seems that there is a lot of money, well, you can talk about it all. But this is a separate issue. And this is not the final figure (12.7 million hryvnias, — note). It can go down,» said Yurii Tazarachev.

Tetyana Dymitrova, Acting Head of the Municipal Property Department of the City Council, explained that in the event of a decision to change the name and approval of a new charter, and upon the fact of changing the form of the enterprise from KP to KNP, the Mykolaiv City Council will be obliged to finance all expenses of the TV channel : payment of salaries, utilities and other current expenses, to update equipment. On the other hand, the TV channel will broadcast the sessions of the session for free and make stories about the work of the authorities, for which it is currently receiving funds within the framework of contracts with executive bodies.

«That is, these are mandatory payments that we, as a budget structure, must provide. Currently, the financing of utility companies is carried out in the following way: they, as utility companies, purchase from us. From the budget, not only from the budget, but at the same time they have the right to earn money separately. It's happening now. And it is what they earned, they pay all the money to themselves for wages and everything else. What will happen now? These will be protected items of expenditure, I would say so. In addition, nothing prevents them from earning more than they used to earn. Only we, as the city council, will not pay them for all the actions they refer to us. They will be free. There will be no contracts (for coverage, note) at all. There will be only their maintenance. They will do it for free for us,» said Tetiana Dymytrova.

Deputy Serhii Kantor asked the representatives of the TV channel what is the point of the city council today making the decision requested by MART. Vitalii Meheda replied that the deputies would be able to «convey their position to the community without censorship».

«For you, as a deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council, there is a platform where you can come and convey your position to the community on one or another issue, without censorship and without any manipulations, any manipulations, to convey your position. The community on this site will be able to get this information. In fact, everything you say today can be commercially considered necessary, sell it or not. On this platform, you simply get an opportunity as a deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council, as a representative of the founder of this utility company,» said Vitalii Meheda.

Serhii Kantor said that he had such an opportunity before, during the 28 years of the channel's existence. Instead, he voiced the assumption that the management of the TV channel simply seeks «financial stability» in the form of funding guaranteed by the budget.

«That's how I could do it before. And we could do it before. I came to MART a year ago, three years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago. I came and did it. What's the point? So what's the point? I want to hear, what is the point? So that Kantor or Panchenko could come and speak? It is made as it is. It works, let it work, we support you, the screen was bought for one million six hundred. We support you. I have an answer for that. And the head of the department, she gave a report and I heard it in her report, because I understand it. You want stability, you do not want dependence on your colleagues in the city council, they will give them money, they will not give them money. You want to be protected in the 24th year in which the war and we all, we all would like and should do everything to see it end. You want stability. So all of Ukraine wants stability, all of Ukraine wants. Therefore, well, I thought that there was some other meaning, and here the meaning is this. Guys, we want to go to protected articles. We do not want to go to the budget committee, see your eyes and walk with an outstretched hand. You drool over the schedule, as much as we need, and then you came to us - you came, you didn't come - these are your problems. We are protected. This is what Fedir Borisovych says. I understand him, but he says something else. Guys, we gave you a cushion of so-called security, and everything else, earn. At the finance department, at colleagues, at townspeople, at contracts. Nothing changes. We cannot fully protect you, but we are not saying that «MART» should be closed,» said Serhii Kantor.

In turn, Vitalii Meheda once again referred to the law «On Media», which the deputies must implement. Serhii Kantor answered him that the city council has the right to do this, but it can teach in other ways, for example, to decide to close the TV channel due to lack of funding, especially in wartime conditions.

«We have the right, but we can exercise our right in a different way. You may not be there. It just won't. We can't afford it. We don't talk about it. We say, be who you are. As long as the war is on, we still have six months to resolve this issue. But when the war is over and we have six months, we will see if we can afford it or not. And you, let's say, look at it a little differently,» said Serhii Kantor.

Then deputy Olena Kiseliova expressed the opinion that the discussion, which has been taking place within the walls of the city council in recent days, should have arisen at the beginning of the year, when the law «On Media» came into force. In her opinion, it was necessary to conduct a survey among Mykolaiv residents on whether they need a city TV channel, what it should be, etc.

«The ideology of this law says one thing: according to the standards of the Council of Europe, direct ownership and management of media by local self-government bodies is not allowed. Because it does not allow to guarantee the independence of such media and does not allow to avoid the influence of the owner, the keyword having political interests. That is why the denationalization of the press and the transformation of state media into public media were carried out. If we analyze the norms of the law, then we are talking about the philosophy of changing the functioning of the utility company. They have already talked about it and everyone has already understood that when, now, on the spur of the moment, after one decision has already failed, in fact, another decision has been prepared for us, which wrapped the problem in the name of «increasing the authorized capital and changing names,» said Olena Kiseliova.

In her opinion, the developer of the draft decision is trying to manipulate the opinion of city council members and promote a profitable solution, which does not aim to create an independent media out of MART, but simply to solve the financial issue of the TV channel.

«Since the legislator obliged to carry out the so-called decommunization, because it comes from communal property and from under the influence of communal property in order for it to be independent, a key point. What the management of communal property offered us today is not the only way that the legislator will give. We were given one solution, we were not given several cases of getting out of this situation. The legislator clearly stated that we are obliged to make appropriate decisions regarding implementation within the period after the end of martial law or within six months after its end. Perhaps, if we are talking about public interest, about transparency, then it was not necessary to go in such a little hidden, in such a quiet way? And it was necessary to hold a discussion, involve the public, conduct a survey so that we, as deputies, would not be told, what are you doing: this year you closed the maternity hospital, and the TV channel was installed, excuse me, as a tax for the payer of local taxes Maybe that's a good thing, but you have to ask the citizens, and we can already see their reaction that all the money goes to the Armed Forces. Perhaps the right decision, today it will be discredited or perceived somehow not very positively. That is why the legislator set: the period until the end of the war and 6 months,» said Olena Kiseliova.

Olena Kiselyova believes that, by making a decision on reorganization in this way, the idea of the law is actually discredited.

The deputy suggested not to hurry to make a decision on «MART», but to wait until the end of martial law.

She admits that the city council can actually make a decision to transfer the TV channel to the collective ownership of employees, as it happened, for example, in 2016 with the newspaper Vechirnii Mykolaiv, which previously also belonged to the Mykolaiv city council. Then the deputies of the Mykolaiv City Council left the founding members of the Vechirnii Mykolaiv newspaper, voting for the transformation of the editorial office by members of its labor team into a business entity with the preservation of the name, purpose, language of publication and thematic focus.

— There is a great workforce, there is property. So maybe at the end of 2024, we will tell you, dear ones, that we are grateful to you for being so powerful, and we will hand over this enterprise to you, we will leave the sphere of management. The legislator predicted this. And after that, you, as the city council, will purchase children's programs, as was the case before. Everything that we will write in the editorial policy or after us,» suggested Olena Kiseliova.

As a result of the discussion, the deputies did not make any decision. Also, the deputy commission did not approve the draft program for the development of the information and communication sphere of the city of Mykolaiv, where the speaker was the director of the mayor's department, Kateryna Silman. In the project of the program, 12.7 million hryvnias were provided for financing the TV channel. But in the event that the city council does not decide on the reorganization of the MART shopping center into a non-commercial enterprise, this financing cannot be provided for in the target program.

We will remind that in November, the MART TV channel purchased a 5 by 3 meter LED screen for 1.5 million hryvnias.

According to the search and analytical system 007.org.ua, from the beginning of 2023, the MART TV channel received 5.5 million hryvnias from the budget of Mykolaiv and the Mykolaiv region, as well as the state budget, under contracts for the production of stories and posting of information. Most of the activities of the TV channel were financed by the Executive Committee of the Mykolaiv City Council, allocating a total of 3.5 million hryvnias.

It was previously reported that the municipal enterprise of the Mykolaiv City Council TV and Radio Company MART congratulated and praised the mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Sienkevych, who was elected to the board of the international movement of mayors for the fight against climate change at the summit in Dubai.