Individuals and Legal Entities to Have Only Two Broadcasting Licenses

Holders of multiple broadcasting licenses are required to keep only two of them in a territorial administrative district. This provision is contained in draft law no. 218 on modifying and supplementing the Broadcasting Code of the Republic of Moldova (Article 2, 4, 9, etc.), voted by the Parliament on Thursday, March 30, 2017, in the final reading.

The Parliament abrogated Article (II) of Law no. 11 on modifying and supplementing Article 66 of the Broadcasting Code of the Republic of Moldova, which read: “(1) The broadcasting licenses issued before entry into force of this Law shall remain valid until their expiry, and (2) Upon expiry of the broadcasting licenses, the beneficiary owners of private broadcasters shall bring the legal status of ownership in broadcasting into compliance with Article 66 p. (3) of the Broadcasting Code of the Republic of Moldova.”

Please note that draft law no. 218, which was on the agenda of the plenary meeting and had been published on the institution’s website, did not contain these provisions on the day of the plenary meeting. The Parliament's press service told Media Azi that the amendments voted by MPs appeared in the final version of the draft, but were not posted on the website.

Law no. 218 is to come into force on the date of its publication, except item 2, referring to Article 11 items (2) and (3) of the Broadcasting Code of the Republic of Moldova, which will be implemented beginning on October 1, 2017.