Friday, January 12th, 2007
Text of report by Moldovan news agency Infotag
Chisinau, 12 January: The Audio Visual Council [a Moldovan media watchdog] considers that the Moldova International TV channel, the first Moldovan channel broadcasting by satellite, is operating illegally, a member of the council has told Infotag on conditions of anonymity.
According to him, the management of the TV channel should have submitted all the necessary documents for broadcasting, a working plan included, to the Audio Visual Council.
Moldova International does not hold a broadcasting license. It could get a licence without attending a contest, but it is necessary to submit at least some documents. The licence is issued for six years and costs 2,700 lei (about 200 dollars), the same source said.
In accordance with the regulation, the Audio Visual Council can hold a meeting at which it should decide the channels further fate.
In theory, the channel could be fined, but given the fact that we are talking about the [public] Teleradio-Moldova company [which set up Moldova International TV channel], the most probably only a warning will be issued, the source said.
Infotags note: The Moldova International TV channel started broadcasting on 1 January 2007 to western and eastern Europe, western Russia, Northern Africa, Madagascar and several states in the Middle East.
(Source: Infotag news agency, Chisinau, in Russian 1146 gmt 12 Jan 07 via BBC Monitoring)
