Director of Shostka media holding says MP pressures her

The director of the communal media holding in the city of Shostka, Sumska oblast (includes the TV and radio company «Aktsent» and the newspaper «Polissya»), Iryna Kovalenko, says she is pressured by the local people’s deputy (MP), Ihor Molotok, to make her leave her position. She thinks that Molotok, who owns the competing holding, and who voted for “dictatorship laws” as of January 16, wants to take control over the holding’s media outlets.

The city council of Shostka made a decree to form a deputies’ investigative committee for studying financial and economic activities of the TRC “Aktsent” and the newspaper “Polissya”, formally due to delays in payment of salaries. The real reason seems to be the media outlet’s political critisism, which, according to the city council member Oleksander Yaryha “causes dissent between the city dwellers”. At the same time, law enforcement agencies showed much interest in investigating the holding – they started to investigate cases on “non-payment of salaries”. On December 3, police conducted search in the holding’s office.