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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Coal oligarch from the Poroshenko era Kropachov launches a nationwide TV channel with former Medvedchuk channel staff
A new nationwide news channel, Ukrainian World News, is being launched in Ukraine. The start is tentatively planned for 22 January 2023.
The information from Detektor Media’s sources was confirmed by the technical director of the future channel, Dmytro Skydan (formerly technical director of the channel “112 Ukraine,” who held that position until the channel’s closure in 2021). “That will depend on many factors, but the preliminary launch date is 22 January,” he said.
Dmytro Skydan confirmed that the channel’s owner and investor is businessman Vitaliy Kropachov. In 2022 he bought the digital broadcasting license of the 4 channel, as well as the company Era Production. Shortly after the license was sold, the 4 channel’s assets were seized and then transferred to the State Film Agency, because the channel’s owner, Oleksiy Kovalov, defected to Russia. Kovalov was later killed.
The general producer of Ukrainian World News will be Olha Hirzheva, who is currently also serving as chief editor. Since 2018, Olha Hirzheva was chief editor of the NewsOne channel (including when the channel was bought by Viktor Medvedchuk’s associate Taras Kozak), and before that she worked for nine years with Savik Shuster. She was also editor-in-chief of the political talk shows “Insha Ukraina” and “People Against” on ZIK. Detektor Media hopes to receive comments from Olha Hirzheva regarding Ukrainian World News.
Dmytro Skydan denied the involvement of former Medvedchuk channel executive Yehor Benkendorf in the project: “Yehor Benkendorf is not involved right now. If he appears later, we will inform about it.” Earlier, Nestor Shufrych, who formally owned the company Mediaholding Novyny, told Detektor Media that Yehor Benkendorf handled the affairs of Medvedchuk’s channels until their final closure in March 2022.
Dmytro Skydan also denied that startup manager for many Ukrainian news channels Oleksii Semenov and former general producer of “112 Ukraine” Serhiy Lohunov would be involved in the future channel.
Skydan did not name other team members. “The core team already exists — about a hundred people,” he said. “The team will include people who came from the channel ‘112’ who worked there during its best years. No one will argue that this channel, from its launch until it was sold to Medvedchuk, that is until 2017, laid the foundations of the modern news format in Ukraine. It’s logical that we want to invite specialists from that channel.”
When asked who will host the broadcasts, Dmytro Skydan did not answer. A Detektor Media source close to the project claims that presenters from Medvedchuk’s channels will not work at Ukrainian World News, and the project’s leadership seeks to distance itself as much as possible from sanctioned pro-Russian channels.
According to Dmytro Skydan, the channel does not plan to broadcast the joint telemarathon “United News.” “We will do the same things, but without participating in the joint marathon,” he said. Recall that the National Security and Defense Council’s decision “On implementing a unified information policy under martial law” of 18 March decreed that all news channels with nationwide licenses must broadcast the joint telemarathon. It was precisely for failing to comply with this requirement that Pryamiy channel, Espresso, and the 5 channel were turned off on the digital T2 network.
The future channel’s studio is located in Kyiv near the Nyvky metro station. According to a Detektor Media source, the company VisionHouse, which previously built “112”, NewsOne, ZIK, Pryamiy channel, Nash and other news channels, is involved in building the channel. Detektor Media contacted VisionHouse’s director Mykola Zaluzhnyi for comment but has not yet received a response.
“VisionHouse is helping us, but we’re doing most of the work ourselves,” Dmytro Skydan said. “Right now the task is to build a channel with minimal content and an adequate budget. So that’s how we’re building it.” He denied a Detektor Media source’s claim that some equipment for the new project previously belonged to Medvedchuk’s channels. “There is neither a technical nor a legal possibility to use equipment from Medvedchuk’s channels right now. I can say that this is definitely not true,” Dmytro Skydan said. Recall that, according to Nestor Shufrych, the Kyiv Military Administration seized the assets of the channels UkrLive and Pershyi Nezalezhnyi in March 2022.
Detektor Media hopes to receive comments from Vitaliy Kropachov and Olha Hirzheva.
Recall that Vitaliy Kropachov — owner of gas, coal, machine-building and other businesses — already in 2019 bought the channel Tak TV from co-owner of the College of Press and Television Hlib Holovchenko. This channel has a satellite license effective since 2019, registered to the company Tak TV Center Plus LLC. In the same year, Kropachov, together with Nosykov, unsuccessfully tried to revive TVi with Polish partners Millstone and Co led by Warsaw Stock Exchange top manager Robert Kwiatkowski. In 6 October 2022 the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting reissued the license of the 4 channel, which Kropachov bought, under the Tak TV brand.
Source: Detektor Media
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Вугільний олігарх часів Порошенка Кропачов запускає всеукраїнський телеканал з колишніми працівниками каналів Медведчука". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
