EBU Vice-President Claudio Cappon (left) and Dmitro Kravchenko, Deputy Chairman of
Ukraine's State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting (Photo: EBU)

Kiev - EBU Vice-President Claudio Cappon has offered assistance to Ukrainian officials and the Union's Members in Ukraine in the transition from state to public service broadcasting.

A draft law due before Parliament for its second reading foresees creation of a new legal entity - National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine, NPTRCU - from 1 January 2014. The new company would bring together the EBU's two Ukrainian Members - National Television of Ukraine (NTU) and National Radio Company of Ukraine (NRCU) - with state cultural channels, regional broadcasters and international radio and TV services.

Accompanied by NRCU Director General Taras Avrakhov and NTU Director General a.i. Oleksander Panteleimonov, Mr Cappon held talks in Kiev on 20 November with Dmitro Kravchenko, Deputy Chairman of Ukraine's State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting. The Committee was responsible for drafting the proposed law, which would remove much government influence over the broadcasters by creating a Supervisory Council dominated by nominees from nongovernmental organizations.

Mr Kravchenko said the new law signified more than just a change of name. "In terms of content, radio and TV will be one public service, and we are talking about basic principles, including the governance system," he said. "We do understand that the State Committee will have no managerial role in future."

Mr Cappon stressed the importance of the EBU community and of public service values, and said the EBU's Partnership Programme was willing to offer training, professional consultancy and strategic assistance on request.

The EBU Vice-President also held talks with Mykola Tomenko, Chairman of Ukraine's Parliamentary Committee on the Media. The 10-member cross-part parliamentary committee has approved a series of amendments to the draft law, which has received input and comment from the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Mr Tomenko said he feared that adoption of the law, whose second reading has been postponed several times over recent weeks, was being delayed because the government now had higher priorities and scant enthusiasm for independent broadcasting in the run-up to Presidential elections in early 2015. He agreed that the proposed new Supervisory Council was a key element of the draft law, and that an important effect of its introduction would be to protect the broadcasters from political interference.

Mr Cappon was accompanied on his trip to Ukraine by David Lewis, the EBU's Head of Member Relations, who manages the union's Partnership Programme. The Programme has already supported training for the EBU's Ukrainian Members through the Eurovision ACADEMY, including programmes on leadership for NTU and on social media for NRCU.