HUBZ chief editor reports salary delays, layoffs

The staff of the Ukrainian media outlet HUBZ has been receiving no salaries since October 2024, and journalists are being told to submit backdated resignation letters, reports HUBZ chief editor Ihor Tykholaz to the Institute of Mass Information representative Valentyna Troyan.

“The situation started in October, but I decided to stay and support the project. The team was waiting for their salaries, because to become unemployed in one day would be difficult. We were given time to think, but everyone decided to continue working. However, the November salaries did not arive, and in December, before the New Year, the journalists only received 2,000 hryvnias,” he said.

According to Tykholaz, one of the journalists said in January that she could no longer work without a salary and had to leave. On January 21, the media outlet's founder Olha Dontsova held a meeting during which all employees were sent on “unpaid vacation.” However, it was later revealed that some employees were told to submit resignation letters backdated December 1.

“They were told to write the letters and promised that their salaries would be paid, and they continued to work through December and January. I learned about this situation much later, because my colleagues thought I had colluded with the management. But I am an employee same as them,” the editor explained.

Tykholaz says that four journalists from the team, as well as several employees who worked remotely, some from Odesa, found themselves in this situation. Payment issues also affected employees helping with YouTube and marketing.

“The website last updated on January 28. After that, the media outlet’s work effectively stopped,” the editor added.

The IMI contacted the media outlet's owner, Olha Dontsova, for a comment. She redirected the request to her lawyer who advised the IMI journalist to submit an official query, provide the editorial assignment and the journalist’s certificate.

The media outlet’s journalist Natalia Bilotil said in a comment to Detector Media that the management had explained to them that the media outlet was experiencing a financial crisis and that “we had to wait.”

“Back then, we were offered to go on unpaid vacation, resign, or help the company get through difficult times, as Olya Dontsova put it. I stayed because I have two small children. She assured me that everything would be fine, that the company was launching educational courses, training therapists who would work with veterans. These courses were supposed to start in January, and salaries were supposed to gradually resume. But this situation continued, and, what is worse, Olha Dontsova never contacted us or explained anything."

According to Detector Media, the team last heard from Olha Dontsova on January 21, and she was in touch with Ihor Tykholaz about a week ago. On March 4, the entire team was denied access to the website and their names were removed from the articles, which were now signed “HUBZ team” instead. Authors' names were later brought back, but the journalists’ articles ended up in the blog section.

Detector Media also reached out to Olha Dontsova for comment, but received no reply at the time of the news release.

The HUBZ media website says they are a modern media outlet about health. The project was launched in March 2019 and registered as the news agency HUBZ Inform on September 2, 2022, receiving an official certificate from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. According to the documents, its founder is Olha Dontsova.