Government said ATR’s financing unblocked
On May 6, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision enabling allocating the budget funds of Atlant SV Television Company LLC for a TV channel with the ATR T logo, as it is reported on the government's website.
In particular, the government amended the Procedure for the use of funds from the state budget for the production and broadcasting of television and radio programs for state needs, collection, processing and spreading of official news products, financial support of the state broadcasting system in foreign language.
In compliance with the document, the funds will be allocated to pay for satellite services, rent television equipment, rent of premises, payment for services for the use and purchase of copyright items.
As noted by the acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy Svitlana Fomenko, the adopted resolution will create legal preconditions for further financing of the ATR TV channel.
As IMI reported, in April, Aider Mudzhabaev, deputy director general of ATR, claimed that ATR might suspend broadcasting until May 18 due to lack of funding.
on February 26, President Zelensky assured that ATR would not lose state support. "I want to assure that the ATR channel will continue its work, and no one will deprive them of state support. This issue will be resolved in the near future," the president said at the Age of Crimea forum in Kyiv on Wednesday.
On February 24th, ATR, has submitted a plea to the European Parliament and European Commission asking the institutions for financial support as it faces imminent closure due to lack of funding.
As IMI reported,on February 10 the Crimean Tatar channel ATR its financing from the state budget was suspended and the broadcaster was under threat of closure. Some of these funds were transferred to the ATR account, but it has been blocked by the Treasury.
Due to the blocking of funds, ATR has launched the #SaveATR Marathon: they broadcast programs without presenters and guests.
On February 11, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of Ukraine Volodymyr Borodyanskyi said his department was to settle the issue of under-financing of ATR channel.
Earlier this month, the ATR owner Lenur Islamov told that because of underfunding, ATR TV channel has reduced 45% of its staff. About 40 persons have been fired, journalists, film directors and others. News editions have been also cut and live broadcasts have been suspended. Islamov added that the channel was on the verge of closing.
At the beginning of the year, the private Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR was on the verge of closing due to the suspension of financial support from the state budget. In the second half of 2019, ATR received from the state 15 million UAH ($617 thousand). ATR has been receiving financial support from the state budget since 2016 through the budget program of resettlement and arrangement of Crimean Tatars and persons of other nationalities deported from the territory of Ukraine.
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