Previously they 'offended' 'Channel 5'. Now 'Channel 5' 'offends' others.

"The 'Polissya TV' studio is being systematically driven to ruin," this statement was made today at a press conference by the studio's creative team.

According to the editor-in-chief of the IC "Polissya TV" Oksana Lukashuk, who read out the statement of the creative team, the "financial crisis" which, according to the studio director Vitaliy Tkachuk, exists at the enterprise, was created artificially. The creative team of the Studio believes that the actions of director Mr. Tkachuk are caused, first of all, by the desire to create conditions under which the Studio could lose its broadcasting license, so that subsequently another legal entity would hold the right to broadcast on these frequencies."

The basis for such statements, according to the "Polissya" team, is "Vitaliy Tkachuk's constant claims about the absence of funds in the accounts. At the same time, it remains unclear why funds from the retransmitted channel for placing advertising are not arriving. There have also been statements about intentions to dismiss journalists and close existing programs."

The team assures that it has enough strength and desire to work and fulfill the conditions stated in the License. "We have enough creative plans and opportunities," the statement says.

However, according to the creative team of "Polissya," the director is doing everything possible to hinder this through his actions. If a financial crisis does exist, then it was created by the "talentless and inept" management of Vitaliy Tkachuk.

The creative team demands that the owner of PE "IC "Polissya TV" terminate the employment contract with director V.P. Tkachuk, because "he violates labor legislation, legislation on television and radio broadcasting, and hinders the professional activity of journalists."

The most interesting thing in this situation is the question of who owns "Polissya TV." Thus, according to the representative of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting in Volyn, Svyatoslav Zelinskyi, at the beginning of the election campaign the owner of the company changed. This coincided with the start of retransmission of "Channel 5" on the frequencies of "Polissya TV" and the appointment of a new director – Vitaliy Tkachuk. According to Ms. Lukashuk, the former owner and director of the television company Mykola Piliuk assured at the time that the owner had not changed and the team would continue to work.

As Oksana Lukashuk stated, "who currently is the legal owner of the 'Polissya TV' studio is not reliably known." However, it can be assumed that the de facto owners are structures close to "Channel 5" and Petro Poroshenko. This is indirectly evidenced by the fact that on September 24, 2004, a meeting took place between the general director of "Channel 5" Ivan Adamchuk and the labor collective of PE "IC "Polissya TV," during which he stated that he represents the interests of the new owner of the enterprise. This may also be indirectly evidenced by the words of the representative in Volyn of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information, Liubov Haranina, that the then head of this committee, Mykola Tomenko, allegedly had a conversation with the new owners of "Polissya" in order to settle the conflict and allegedly called Messrs. Liasurskyi and Adamchuk from "Channel 5" and had a conversation with Petro Poroshenko, who was at that time the head of the channel's supervisory board.

According to the "Polissya TV" team, the non-payment of wages and interference in the studio's editorial policy is aimed at "turning 'Polissya TV' into a correspondent bureau of one of the central television channels." This, according to the team, may be evidenced by the fact that on February 21, 2005, the director of the information studio Vitaliy Tkachuk orally stated his intentions to dismiss several employees due to staff reduction, in particular, three of the four editors of the information department. Another consequence of such a policy at "Polissya" may be that the broadcasting license will be revoked for failure to fulfill the license conditions (in particular, daily 2-hour airtime with own information products).

As the editor of the studio's information department Yevheniia Stekunova noted, "if six months ago we had been thanked for our work and told that our services were no longer needed, no one would have been offended. But this way they are simply squeezing us out…"

The next steps of the studio team will be an attempt to dismiss director Vitaliy Tkachuk and initiate a criminal case against him for non-compliance with the Labor Code of Ukraine.

In the current situation, the creative team of "Polissya" will fight to the end.

Reference: the "Polissya-TV" studio covers with its signal the territory of the entire Volyn region, with the exception of Liubeshiv, Shatsk, and Horokhiv districts and the cable network of the city of Lutsk. The potential viewing audience is 800 thousand viewers. It has 3 television transmitters – in the city of Kovel, Novovolynsk, and the village of Topilne in Rozhyshche district.

From "Lutsk Investment": hold on, friends! We are with you!