Kyiv, February 17 (PolitNavigator, Maxim Karpenko) – The tax administration should thoroughly check the Vesti newspaper, which is allegedly financed by Russia and is distributed free of charge on the streets of Kyiv.
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The author of the program, Roman Skrynin, and his guest, Deputy Head of the National Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting Olga Gerasimyuk, came to this conclusion on the Hromadske TV channel.
They devoted part of the program to discussing the source of income and the owner of the Multimedia Invest Group holding, which includes the radio and newspaper Vesti, as well as the UBR TV channel.
In particular, Gerasimyuk stated that during a meeting with the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Igor Guzhva, he assured her that he was the owner of the holding.
“I told him: “You know, I have lived for so many years. Share with me the secret of how you can earn so much money? He started telling me that they make very good money from advertising. But we have no doubt that this publication is published not only through advertising,” Gerasimyuk assures.
At the same time, Skrynin noted that he often reads the newspaper and does not see a lot of advertising there.
“The circulation is 370 thousand. Printing such a circulation is not a cheap thing. That's a hundred thousand for one number. And they also have a whole channel and radio. There are a maximum of six ads that are designated as advertisements. This is a subsidized newspaper,” Skrynin said.
But Gerasimyuk, being an official representative of the authorities, decided to show her cards and share her own guesses about the origin of the newspaper and threatened to incite the tax authorities to check its activities.
“This is not just a subsidized newspaper. The owners of this publication are based in Moscow. By the way, we recently met in one journalistic circle, and Mr. Shvets, the editor of the Fakty newspaper, which was extremely popular, was there, and he said that this leaflet (issue of the newspaper "Vesti" - author.), he completely strangles this newspaper. Because a pensioner, choosing between his favorite newspaper “Facts” for hryvnia, prefers a free product. You are absolutely right – we should be interested in this story. We need to check how much money is pouring in and compare Guzhva’s tax return. Of course, a cry will immediately rise about stifled freedom of speech. But this is exactly the case when this is not journalism, but propaganda,” Gerasimyuk assures.