Thursday, September 10, 2015

Law on disclosure of information about ultimate owners of media

President Petro Poroshenko signed Law “On Amendments to Several Laws of Ukraine on Ensuring the Transparency of Media Ownership and Implementing the Principles of State Policy in the Sphere of Television and Radio Broadcasting”.

Law №674-VIII adopted by the Parliament on September 3, 2015, obliges subjects of information activity (broadcasters and program service providers) to disclose the actual ownership structure and provide information about the ultimate beneficial owner (controller) of the company.

Also, the Law prohibits the establishment and activities of TRC, the participants of which are legal entities registered in offshore zones stipulated in the list approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, as well as relevant individual entrepreneurs, individuals and persons without citizenship.


The National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting is obliged to provide a detailed explanation of all its decisions on the issuance and refusal to issue or prolong the license. The National Council is also prohibited to introduce any restrictions regarding the retransmission of programs from the countries-parties to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, if these restrictions are not envisaged by the law of Ukraine.

The adoption of the Law must facilitate the solution of the issue on transparency of ownership of broadcasters and program service providers. In addition, more transparent procedures of the activity of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting on licensing have been introduced.


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