Artem Shevchenko has been entered into the single state register of legal entities and private entrepreneurs as the director general of the Kyiv-based TeleRadioSvit television and radio broadcasting company LLC, which broadcasts satellite television programs under the TVi logo.
This information has been posted on the Web site of the state enterprise Information and Resource Center on Wednesday evening.
Thus, Shevchenko has become the head of the television channel for the second time over two days.
Earlier Natalia Katerynchuk was appointed new director general of the TVi channel, but on Tuesday the state register was changed and she was replaced by Shevchenko. However, on April 23 Katerynchuk was again entered into the register.
The press service of TVi reported on April 23 that Artem Shevchenko had been appointed the new director general of the channel, replacing Natalia Katerynchuk. The new investor in the channel is prominent U.S. businessman Oleksandr Altman, who said his priority is to save the television channel as an objective source of information in Ukraine.
However, TVi owner Konstantin Kagalovsky said there has been an illegal takeover of the channel, adding that he had not signed any papers to sell the channel and the documents had been forged.
“I haven’t sold the channel and I wasn’t going to,” Kagalovsky said at a press conference.
Katerynchuk, who has been suspended from the post of the TVi director general, submitted a statement to the police regarding the illegal seizure of the channel.
In the meantime, the employees of the channel have gone on strike until the conflict between the owners of the channel is settled.
The National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting on April 11, 2013 made amendments to the license of TVi, according to which Kyiv-based Media Info LLC has increased its stake in Kyiv-based TeleRadioSvit television and radio broadcasting company LLC, which broadcasts satellite television programs under the TVi logo, from 43.6% to 100%.
According to the document, talk-show host Oleksiy Lichman was appointed a member of the editorial team, replacing Mykola Kniazhytsky (became an MP in 2012) and Volodymyr Pavliuk (moved to STB in 2011) and Vaclav Havel, who died at the end of 2011.
As of September 2012, the co-owners of TVi along with Media Info were Seradgill Holdings Ltd. (49%) and International Media Company LLC (Kyiv, 7.4%). The national council said that the share of Seradgill Holdings was earlier 92.6%.
The key owner of Media Info as of September 2012 was Wilcox Ventures Ltd.
There has been a long-running conflict over TVi. There have been court actions on the matter in Ukrainian and foreign courts involving businessmen Kagalovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky. The latter tried to regain control over the channel or funds invested.
However, in 2009, Kniazhytsky told Interfax-Ukraine that the channel does not belong either to Kagalovsky or Gusinsky.
“There are relations, but it cannot be said that they are owners of the channel,” he said then, not disclosing the names of the end owners.
In 2012, when Media Info LLC appeared among shareholders of the TVi channel, the then director of the channel Kniazhytsky told the Telekritika publication that the introduction of Ukrainian co-owners to the structure of the shareholders is linked to the observation of the requirements of the law on the political advertisements, although the end owner of the channel is still Kagalovsky.
