TVR Moldova, Excluded from The Access List To a Discussion Club With The President Dodon, Due To a „Misunderstanding”

TVR Moldova team was excluded from the list of journalists who had to participate in the discussion with the President of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, organized on Tuesday, June 27, at the presidential villa in Holercani. Finally, TVR Moldova journalists were allowed to participate in the discussion club. More than 100 media representatives, inclusively from the left bank of the Dniester, were present at the event.

Contacted by Media Azi Broadcast, TVR Moldova reporter Vasile Munteanu mentioned: “A colleague was announced in the morning by the press service through phone that TVR Moldova does not fall in the discussion format.”
 
In order to check the press service's spokesman, Media Azi called Carmena Lupei, Senior Consultant at the presidential press service, but she suggested us to contact the journalist Artur Efremov, who is responsible for the organization of these discussion clubs and for their moderation. “He has strict rules in organizing these events. Perhaps he will give you more details,” Carmena Lupei said. Contacted several times, Efremov did not answer the phone.
 
On Tuesday evening, June 27, Vasile Munteanu announced Media Azi reporter that “after all, our team was allowed to enter.”
 
Contacted by Media Azi, on Wednesday, June 28, Artur Efremov told us that it was a misunderstanding: “We invite all our colleagues. Probably for lack of time, the discussion with Igor Dodon was organized only for 3 days, and not all accredited journalists managed to register during the organization, and TVR Moldova's appeal did not come from me and I cannot give you any more details.”

At the same time, he added that there are no specific rules in organizing discussion clubs: „Really, we have certain internal rules, but they don’t involve the participation/non participation of journalists. All journalists who have accreditations may participate based on a prior registration”.

The journalist and former director of TeleRadio Moldova between 2003-2004 Artur Efremov is the founder and moderator of the discussion club “Social Resonance” (Международный пресс-клуб «Социальный резонанс»). Previously, in 2015, the discussion club “Social Resonance” invited to a similar event the third President of the Republic of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin.