17 Million Euros for a New TRM Building. Where Is This Money from?

On August 22, Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) Company signed a memorandum with the public broadcaster from Georgia on accepting an architectural project for the headquarters and radio and TV studios. According to Vlad Turcanu, TRM General Director, the broadcaster from Chisinau needs modern premises for implementing new technologies and making maintenance costs for the old premises more efficient. The cost of the project reaches 17 million Euros; this money will be obtained from international partners and alienating premises and land not used by the public company.

Vlad Turcanu specifies that the representatives of the Georgian public broadcaster and the architectural office which developed the project for the Georgian public company presented the project free of charge after the Tbilisi Public Broadcasting Institution had constructed the new headquarters and studios. According to TRM General Director, the architectural project will be adapted to the needs of Teleradio-Moldova.

The project is expected to be completed within 30 months. “These premises of the architectural project, the administrative one, will include offices, TV and radio studios, and a separate autonomous module intended for a large-scale studio of approximately 1 000 square meters. We estimate the architectural project to be 9 000 square meters,” Vlad Turcanu says.

The total cost of the project without including the technical equipment reaches 17 million Euros (approximately 329 million lei). It would be purchased from its own sources and with the support of the foreign donors. Alienating several premises owned by TRM will serve as another source of financing. “TRM owns about 10 hectares in the Telecentru Sector, and that’s too much. A part of this territory could be alienated for constructing the new premises,” TRM General Director says.

According to him, the public company requires new work spaces as well as modern techniques and technologies to develop, and they “could not be implemented at the obsolete Soviet-type premises.” Moreover, according to the TRM administration, the maintenance expenses for all the premises currently owned by TRM reaches 700 000 Euros (circa 13.5 million lei) per year. “Practically, Teleradio-Moldova is a ruin, and this state of things cannot go on like that,” TRM General Director concludes.

Corneliu Durnescu, the director of the public channel, mentions that the project developers intended to keep the green spaces in the TRM territory for organizing various events. “We would like to preserve the green spaces. Our colleagues from Georgia were very surprised by the green spaces we have here. We intend to start a park near to the building for concerts, festivals, and all kinds of activities from April to October,” Durnescu says.

“It’s not just about a really impressive façade; it’s also a very well-equipped workspace from the point of view of technology. We have had extraordinary international partners to develop something special. It is a gift from Georgia to the Republic of Moldova,” Tina Berdzenishvili, the general director of the Georgian public broadcasting company, says.

In addition, if TRM decided to accumulate 700 000 Euros per year from the amount allocated for the maintenance of the old premises, according to the Georgian project (17 million Euros) it would take the administration approximately 24 years to gain the necessary budget.

Previously, Media Azi wrote about the TRM administration’s plans to alienate the Radio House premises due to the expensive maintenance costs of the premises owned. Currently, Moldova 1 has 3 studios with the areas of 600 square meters, 300 square meters, and 150 square meters.