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A Company, Registered at the Same Address as Plahotniuc’s Holding Company, Obtained a Broadcast License for a New TV Channel – Canal 5

04 October 2019
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A new TV channel, Canal 5, will appear. During its meeting held on 4 October, the Broadcasting Council (BC) granted, with five votes for and one vote against, a broadcast license for this TV channel, own by Media Content Distribution. The company is managed by Lilian Bustiuc, being registered at the same address as the holding company of the former Democratic leader Vlad Plahotniuc.

Canal 5 will be a generalist channel and will rebroadcast the programs of Peterburg – Piatyi kanal from Russia. Lilian Bustiuc, TV channel’s manager, informed that the company signed a contract with ‘Teleradiocompania Peterburg’, that allowed it to obtain the exclusive license for broadcasting the programs of the Russian TV channel on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

The BC officially requested from the Teleradiocompania Peterburg information about the subjects with which it signed the broadcasting contracts. The answer received mentioned Media Content Distribution as the holder of the right to rebroadcast the content of the Russian channel, and indicated that the contract with the previous partners from Moldova, i.e. ITV, was terminated in February 2019.

ITV representative, Natalia Poleakova, also spoke at the meeting, stating that their right to broadcast Peatii Canal content was taken over by raider attack and that ITV would challenge the BC’s decision.
Lilian Bustiuc did not comment on these allegations, and the BC members stated that companies should regulate their relations on their own.

The manager of the new channel stated that the company he represented was the founder of Maestro FM radio station. He highlighted that he already signed contracts for the production studio’s premisses and equipment. He believes he will be able to produce about 46% of local product, 90% of which in Romanian.

BC member Olga Gututui asked whether the Media Content Distribution had anything in common with ‘the largest media holding company in Moldova’, since it had the same address as Plahotniuc’s holding, i.e. Chisinau, 1 Ghioceilor Street. ‘The production company has this address because it was important to be closer to the production process’, explained Bustiuc.

Previously, Lilian Bustiuc managed the company TELEFE M International (liquidated), founded by OTIV PRIME B.V.