Primul in Moldova and Accent TV Have Changed Not Only Their Administrator, But Also Their Russian Owners

Media Invest Service, a Russian company which is the founder of Telesistem TV Company which owns Primul in Moldova and Accent TV channels, changed its owners on October 7, according to Ziarul de Garda which refers to the data from the Register of Legal Entities of the Russian Federation. Alexei Polunin, a citizen of the Russian Federation, is listed as the new owner.

Media Azi has written that, on September 22, the BC was notified of changing the administrator of the company which holds the broadcasting licenses for the two channels. In the excerpt from the State Register which Arina Corsicova, the new administrator, enclosed to the Information Note filed to the BC, Natalia Ermilova and Samvel Grigorean, two citizens of the Russian Federation, are listed as final beneficiaries of Primul in Moldova and Accent TV channels.

However, the data from the Register of Legal Entities of the Russian Federation consulted by ZdG reveals that the new owner of Media Invest Service is Alexei Polunin who took over Media Invest Service via Diamond Estate, the company he owns. According to Ziarul de Garda, the BC was not informed about the new amendments.

On October 4, the Council addressed the Information and Security Service (ISS), the National Anticorruption Center (NAC), and the Competition Council (CC) demanding to investigate the circumstances and the information circulating in the media according to which such channels as Primul in Moldova and Accent TV previously affiliated with the Party of Socialists had presumably changed their beneficiary recently. The BC notified the three state authorities after being informed on September 22, by the Telesistem TV, the company which owns Accent TV and Primul in Moldova channels, that the company had a new administrator, and several media outlets wrote that the two channels would therefore be controlled by the Sor Party.