Moldova Doesn't Renew Licences for Pro-Russian TV Channels Linked to Russian Intelligence

The Council of Television and Radio of Moldova (CTR) has not renewed the licence of Primul în Moldova, a TV channel that broadcast content from the Russian "First Channel" and hasn't been operating in the country since December 2022. The CTR also refused to issue a licence to Familia TV, as reported by NewsMaker.

Specifically, the founder of Familia, REAL RADIO, was fined 10 times for a total of 157,000 lei for violations related to the production of local programs and 7,000 lei for not complying with the General Concept of the Media, receiving two public warnings, including for failing to adhere to responsibilities in the cultural sector.

As one of the council members, Ruslan Mikhailevsky, pointed out, there are suspicions that the TV channel is engaged in anticompetitive practices. Furthermore, there's a risk of a dominant situation in shaping public opinion, as, according to several journalistic investigations, seven TV channels belong to and/or are affiliated with pro-Russian former leader of the Democratic Party, Vlad Plahotniuc.

Additionally, the shareholder and administrator of REAL RADIO, Elena Kudinova-Gilesku, provided false information about herself in a letter to the CTR, claiming she had not held the position of director at Media Content Distribution SRL (the owner of Canal 5 and Maestro FM licenses). However, according to the Agency for State Services, she was the director of the company from September 19 to September 27, 2023. Therefore, Mikhailevsky stated that the channel's licence is being revoked due to falsified data.

The CTR also considered the application of Primul în Moldova's founder, SC TELESISTEM TV, for a licence extension. Most of the CTR members decided not to grant the application since it does not meet the General Concept, a criterion for extending the licence's term.

Primul în Moldova previously broadcast content from the Russian "First Channel."

At the end of the previous year, the National Security Commission suspended the operations of Primul în Moldova and five other TV channels (TV6, Orhei TV, Accent TV, NTV Moldova, and RTR Moldova) until the state of emergency in the country was lifted. The government explained its decision by stating that the channels "tendentiously and manipulative covered events in the country and the war in Ukraine" and its desire to "protect citizens and the country" during the information war.

In September, Moldova deported Russian propagandist Vitaly Denisov, the head of the Sputnik Moldova news agency, associated with Russian military intelligence.

At the beginning of October, the Moldovan Parliament banned members of the pro-Russian "Shor" party from participating in elections.