Ren TV Moldova Penalized by the Coordinating Council for Broadcasting for Using the Logo of the Russian TV Station Ren-TV, bearing the Saint George's Black-and-Orange Ribbon

The monitoring by the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) has revealed that Ren TV Moldova had been using the logo of the Russian TV station Ren-TV, bearing the Saint George's black-and-orange ribbon, i.e. a logo differing from the one approved in the broadcasting license. The broadcaster was penalized through a "public warning" at the meeting of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council on April 30; besides, the broadcaster was ordered to restore the original logo.

Cristina Mitu, BCC ember, informed us that the monitoring showed that Ren TV Moldova was using the logo of the Russian TV station Ren-TV while rebroadcasting their programs in Moldova. "Thus, the TV station has violated the provisions of Article 29, paragraph (1) of the Broadcasting Code, which provides that whenever a program service or part thereof is rebroadcast, the logo of the producer of the program, bearing the identification signs of the entity that rebroadcasts it, must be kept". Teleproiect SRL, the founder of Ren TV Moldova, was penalized by "public warning" for violating this provision. Besides, BCC members requested that Teleproiect start using again their own logo", stated Cristina Mitu.

When asked by Media Azi why Ren TV Moldova replaced their logo with the Russian one, Victor Marcenco, the director of the institution, gave no clear answer. "We were given a public warning by BCC and agree with all objections. We removed the Saint George's ribbon from the Russian channel's logo, but for technical reasons we cannot yet replace it with our logo", he told us.

According to Cristina Mitu, if Ren TV Moldova fails to comply with the decision of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council, the TV channel will have to pay a fine of MDL 1,800.