Dear Valery Ivanovich!
My name is Roman Skrypin, and I am a journalist. These days I work at TVi TV channel. This is the very channel that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) that you head had once confused with TVCI, owned by [Moscow Mayor Yury] Luzhkov. I would like to assure you that they are very different. However, if things continue going along the worst-case scenario, they might become very much like twin brothers.
I don’t know if I should tell you that, in neighboring Russia, freedom of speech is absent. As such, all media – especially TV channels – are strictly controlled. Most of them are owned by Gazprom which, in turn, is a state monopoly. In Russia, the state does not actually stretch from Kaliningrad to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It’s concentrated in the Kremlin.
The plan for suppressing freedom of speech and asserting control over media space can be learned from journalist Yevgeny Kiselyov. These days he hosts the show “Velyka Polityka” (Big Politics) on Inter TV channel. I think you have seen him before in person since the giant media group that owns the station, U.A. InterMediaGroup Limited, is formally managed by your wife since you became head of the SBU.
Perhaps you could ask your wife what the media group she runs was thinking when it challenged in court the decision by the National Council for TV and Radio to allocate frequencies, including the one for TVi?
Of course, we can start a long discussion about the supremacy of law, compliance with laws and the matters of principle for those seeking the truth. But I think, Mr. Khoroshkovsky that, like myself, you understand very well what this is all about.
The frequencies allocated to the TV channel I work for are needed for development and to increase the audience, since the technology has not quite gone as far as allowing TV viewers to watch a channel using an iron, for instance.
So, going back to the issue, the lawsuit has been going for months. However, the plaintiff (U.A. InterMedia Group Limited) turned down those very frequencies during the tender on Jan. 27. So all my channel is asking for is that the Inter group drop its objection to having the frequencies allocated to TVi TV channel.
Also, you might know about the noise about censorship on other TV channels, and the journalistic movement Stop Censorship! President Viktor Yanukovych asked you to take care of it during his June 4 press conference.
I can help you out. Historically, as soon as I started working at any channel that did not have any censorship, the channel started having problems. This happened on STB, where censorship was eliminated in 2002 though the dismissal of journalists Then Channel 5 got into a difficult position. You’ve got to remember those stormy days of 2004.
And now it’s bad luck for me again. There is no censorship at TVi. The owner does not interfere with editorial policy in any way. I would like to share my feelings: working without censorship is a huge blessing. But the channel has the problems that I have told you about above.
So, I have a request for you, Mr. Khoroshkovsky. You’re going to see your wife at home. Perhaps, in the kitchen, right? Can you please ask her to stop this nonsensical lawsuit? Her group, U.A. InterMedia Group Limited, already has many licenses and channels, including Inter, NTN, K1, K2, Mega, Enter-Music, and so on. Isn’t this enough? Let others live and develop, too. It’s so humane!
You’re the head of the SBU, and one of your many tasks is to take care of the information security of the country, to make sure that the freedom of speech blossoms wildly here. But unless you put an effort into fulfilling this task, a seditious thought might come to my mind that there is a conflict of interest here. You head an important state institution while your wife manages a vast media holding. This status quo is good for establishing a monopoly and full control over the Ukrainian TV.
Thank you for reading to the end. Best regards to you and your wife,
Journalist Roman Skrypin
