5 TV Channels Are Left without Broadcasting Permission Documents Due to Transactions Confirming Their Affiliation with Plahotniuc and Sor

Three companies were left without permissive documents for TV broadcasting and audiovisual services. These are such companies as Telesistem TV (which owns Primul in Moldova and Accent TV), Archidoc Group (the owner of Orizon TV), and Telestar Media (which owns Canal 2 and Canal 3). The decision was adopted by the Council for Promoting Investment Projects of National Importance.

“They breached the Council’s request to provide a full information dossier by presenting the information and details of a single bank account, whereas they held five and eight other accounts in different banks, respectively. In each case, transactions which confirmed affiliation with the Plahotniuc-Sor group were identified,” the Government’s press release mentions.

At the same time, the Council positively assessed the investments of the Satelrom-TV company (TV Drochia and Drochia FM), and requested Statis TV (Zona M) and Real Exim (Radio.md) to provide additional information.

The Council also decided to send final notifications to 36 companies out of the 88 which had previously failed to respond to the request to provide the information requested.

The decision refers to the new mechanism identified by the authorities and aimed at suspending TV channels’ licenses, and adopted by the Parliament after promoting the legislative amendment in November and December last year, which started circulating in the public space on the New Year’s Eve. On the basis of this procedure, in late 2023, six companies which owned TV channels with suspended licenses during the state of emergency were left without their permissive documents.