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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The state enterprise “Multimedia Platform for Ukraine’s International Broadcasting” of the Cabinet 6 October signed three agreements with TV channels to create content for the “United News #UAразом” marathon through the end of the year for 75,02 million UAH. Another agreement worth 25 million UAH will be signed soon. This is reported in the “Prozorro” system.
In April, four agreements were signed with TV channels to create content for the “United News #UAразом” marathon in 2026 for 637,96 million UAH. Now three of them were ordered additional services for October–December for 75,02 million UAH, and an agreement with LLC “Television and Radio Company ‘Studio ‘1+1’”, judging by procurement plans, is expected. The cost of the new contracts is 25 million UAH.
The documents specify different volumes of paid content, so the hourly rates vary. They have not changed compared to the initial agreements that “Our Money” reported on in the spring.
Thus, the total cost of producing content for the current year has risen to 712,99 million UAH.
Contractor
Total contracts for the Unified telethon in 2026, UAH
Order volume, hours
Price, UAH/hour incl. VAT
“We-Ukraine” from MPIU
204 587 846
1 046
195 628
“SLM News” from MPIU
204 147 130
1 480
137 900
“Studio ‘1+1’” from MPIU
179 165 250
1 143
156 750
“Inter” from MPIU
125 088 927
1 085
115 300
Total:
712 989 153
Taking into account expenses for another telethon “FreeDOM,” producers of content for both marathons were paid almost 3,45 billion UAH. This is evidenced by data from “Prozorro” and “Spending.”
Recipients of funds for producing content for the Unified telethon and “Freedom” (from 1 March 2022 through 7 October 2026)
Amount, UAH
“SLM News” from MPIU
793 222 293
“Studio ‘1+1’ and ‘1+1 Production’ from MPIU
781 591 020
“We-Ukraine” from MPIU and CZIPU
724 709 468
“Inter” from MPIU
681 971 018
“Kinokit” from the “Council”
463 728 856
Total:
3 445 222 655
According to “Spending,” MPIU’s most recent transactions for the marathon are dated 3 October, when 27,81 million UAH were transferred to Inter and We – Ukraine. This occurred after the Cabinet of Ministers in September halted capital expenditures due to a lack of funds in the state budget. Payments to builders who are carrying out protection of energy facilities were even suspended.
LLC “We – Ukraine” appeared in the telethon at the end of 2022. After “Novynna hrupa Ukraina” of Rinat Akhmetov surrendered its broadcast license to the state in July 2022, its TV journalists moved to the new channel “We – Ukraine.” The director, owner of 79,5% of the charter capital, and ultimate beneficiary of the company is Ihor Petrenko.
According to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the channel “We – Ukraine” operates on seized equipment of the “4 channel” of Oleksii Kovalov and, possibly, some of the equipment of the “Nash” channel of Yevhen Murayev. Zheleznyak also found that individual entrepreneurs ordered the channel “We – Ukraine” to provide coverage of enterprises in the oil and gas industry and government bodies, as well as the conference “Nuclear Opportunities for the Country’s Development” organized by Energoatom.
In August and September 2026 the office of “We – Ukraine” was damaged as a result of a Russian attack.
LLC “SLM News” (an informational production company of the StarLightMedia group) belongs to Viktor Pinchuk.
LLC “Television and Radio Company ‘Studio 1+1’” is part of the group of the sanctioned Ihor Kolomoisky.
PJSC “TV channel ‘Inter’” is owned by the sanctioned Dmytro Firtash.
The procurement justifications state that in 2023 these TV channels won a creative contest for the right to broadcast in the telethon, so direct agreements were signed with them. However, these documents contain no evidence that other channels such as “Espreso” of Kostiantyn Zhevago, “Pryamyi” of Petro Poroshenko, or “24” of Andrii Sadovyi cannot provide similar services.
Recall that the specialized outlet “Detector Media” reported that in the third quarter of 2026 MPs from “Servant of the People” accounted for almost 91% of all deputies in the telethon.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Телемарафону додали ще 100 млн і перераховують гроші попри заборону Кабміну навіть на оплату захисту енергетики". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Our Money.
