13:28 03.11.2016

Eurovision 2017 not funded from national TV company's budget

2 min read
Eurovision 2017 not funded from national TV company's budget

Ukrainian Information Policy Minister Yuriy Stets has said the organization and holding of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv is not financed from the budget of the National Television Company of Ukraine, which is intended for the development of public broadcasting.

Speaking the air of Hromadske TV channel on Wednesday evening in response to a question if the funding of Ukraine's National TV Company will increase, Stets said: "Obviously, yes." \

He also said that the budget of the public television should be consistent with provisions of the law.

"This means Eurovision expenses won't be funded from the National TV Company's budget," reads a statement posted on the Hromadske channel's website.

"With regard to the Eurovision song contest, this is a one-off project. And this one-off project should be financed not from the funds allocated for financing public television," the minister said.

As reported, on November 1 Director General of National Television and Radio Broadcasting Company of Ukraine Zurab Alasania. He said that he has written a voluntary resignation application due to problems with the budget of the Eurovision 2017 song contest and similar hardships with the government financing of National Public Television, as well as moves to create the Radio Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (NPBU) on the basis of his company.

He said that authorities added the budget of the song contest to the budget of his company for 2017. This means that UAH 450 million of expenses for Eurovision is taken from UAH 1.2 billion foreseen in the law for development of Public Broadcasting. Some UAH 250 million is taken in the form of the fee for broadcasting, UAH 149 million as expenses and UAH 46 million is taken by the city for utility services. Some UAH 112 million will go for international activities (Olympics, world cups and other contests) and the company has UAH 193 million left, he said.

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