The Law on Media Ownership Transparency voted in Parliament without the Amendment on Offshore Zones

The draft Law on Amending and Supplementing the Broadcasting Code of Moldova that includes provisions on the transparency of media ownership was approved by Parliament on Thursday, March 5. The Law was to provide an answer to the key question for the media and society in general: who are the real owners of the media outlets? The civil society representatives who have been waiting for years for the approval of the amendments to the Law, committed to monitoring its enforcement, so that it does not fall into the steps of other "stillborn" laws.

In a statement to the press after voting the law in Parliament, Kirill Lucinschi, Liberal Democrat MP, author of the draft Law, admitted that the Law was very important for the media and society and stressed the role of civil society, in particular of the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) that had promoted actively the need for adopting a law on transparency of media ownership.

Regarding the amendment concerning offshore zones that has not been included in the Law, the MP reiterated his arguments from the day before, stated at the meeting of the relevant parliamentary Commission, namely that "a separate draft Law on the activity of all offshore companies, not just those owning local media outlets, but also those present in other fields, is needed".

In another press statement, the Liberal MP Corina Fusu qualified the adopted Law as "a make-believe and hypocrisy" and said that "it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to identify the real owners of a media outlet" in Moldova. The Liberal MP drew public attention to the exclusion of the amendment on offshore zones that had been included by her party: "The amendment prohibiting registration of companies in offshore zones, where there is no transparency in financial transactions, was not accepted by the very alliance that committed to implement reforms and continue walking on the European path, "she concluded, adding that she regretted the decision of some political forces holding parliamentary majority, who thought that our state could afford the ‘luxury of paying the TV stations and journalists to follow political orders".

The civil society committed to monitor the enforcement of the Law. Nadine Gogu, the Director of the Independent Journalism Center (IJC), expressed hope that the adopted amendments would not have the fate of other "stillborn" laws and urged the broadcasting regulatory body to monitor closely the enforcement of the Law. "The Coordinating Council for Broadcasting needs to use all tools available to ensure the transparency of the data about the ultimate beneficiaries of local broadcasters. Whenever concentration of media ownership is identified, the Council needs to interfere to discourage such concentration", said the IJC Director, adding that "we will keep an eye on the Coordinating Council for Broadcasting, to make sure that they play the role of the guarantor of public interests".

Ion Bunduchi, Executive Director of the Free Electronic Press Association (APEL), said that "the adopted Law was nothing but an attempt to fill the gap that remained from the previous year. Although it is better than nothing, it still is not what is needed – a new Broadcasting Code, the adoption of which was a commitment made three times in a row in the work program of Government", stated the expert.

"The approved Law will ensure the transparency of media ownership in the same way as other laws ensure the transparency of the property of public servants", added Bunduchi.

The Law was voted by 79 MPs, after having waited its turn in Parliament since the summer of 2013. It was voted in the first reading only in 2014. Until then, the Independent Journalism Center (IJC), jointly with other media NGOs, has held a large campaign for raising awareness and promoting the draft Law.

The Law will be enacted in 6 months from its publication in the Official Gazette of the Repuvblic of Moldova.