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The problems of the public company, which were noted at the two meetings of the SB, include lack of funds; exaggerated budget expenses; outdated equipment, which has not been renewed since 1989; increasing incidence of disease among employees because of high level of radioactivity; etc. Company President Olga Bordeianu mentioned in her report that Teleradio-Moldova cannot compete with private televisions in terms of image, because its technical capacity makes up only 5% of theirs. “We need more investment in order to become like others,” Olga Bordeianu concluded. The company’s financial director Galina Blanaru, who referred to the company’s financial situation, assessed the company’s debt as of December 31, 2015 at over 6 million lei.
Ludmila Vasilache, a member of the SB, wondered if the company’s budget deficit in 2015 had decreased since 2014 or remained the same. Olga Bordeianu said that “increase of tariffs gave us big differences between the money forecasted and those really spent.”
At the SB meeting on March 25, Olga Bordeianu faced some criticism as well. SB member Petru Grozavu said that Teleradio-Moldova, “especially Moldova 1, is still, with some exceptions, outdated in terms of broadcasting format, programs, direction, concept, and administration.” Grozavu pointed out to the company’s management that “the non-budgetary income for 2016 was planned in decrease to previous years; the administrative staff was increased; the company’s personnel was increased (instead of being optimized); other internal resources than advertizing and lease (often flawed) of spaces were not identified and capitalized on; TV archives remain derelict; financial discipline is still poor.”
Both the Teleradio-Moldova activity report for 2015 and the report on the activity of the company’s President Olga Bordeianu were approved by the SB with majority of votes; the only vote against belonged to Petru Grozavu.
It should be noted that Olga Bordeianu was elected as president of the public broadcasting company Teleradio-Moldova in June 2015. Her candidacy was challenged by the civil society after information appeared on social networks about false data in her CV. Media organizations at the time conducted their own evaluation of how the SB conducted selection, and they found that she had been “the weakest candidate,” and the selection procedure had been “flawed.”
SB member Petru Grozavu declared after Olga Bordeianu’s election as president of Teleradio-Moldova that he was withdrawing his vote because the candidate had violated the rules of participation in the contest by not meeting the condition of 10 years of experience in mass media, and he demanded the SB to review its decision of June 4. The Board did not take into consideration these arguments, and on June 30 it confirmed Olga Bordeianu in the office. Petru Grozavu challenged the SB decision in court. The case is now pending at Centru Court in Chisinau; the next meeting is scheduled for May.
