Rinat Akhmetovʼs ”Media Grupa Ukraina” is starting to fire people, but wants to continue broadcasting the telethon

Media holding Media Grupa Ukraina begins to lay off employees — each is promised to be paid from 3 to 12 "pre-war" salaries, depending on the number of years of work.

This is stated in the letter of the director of the media holding, Yevhen Bondarenko, to the employees, which is at the disposal of Babel.

"Unfortunately, we are beginning to say goodbye to employees. First of all, this will apply to the "fourth category" — these are employees who, as of July 11, were not involved in production processes. In advance, I spoke with the managers of the assets — and from Monday, with the participation of HR department, they will start communications with the heads of divisions," the letter says.

Media holding plans to continue broadcasting the national marathon Yedyni Novyny until the decision of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting regarding the cancellation of licenses and the corresponding decision of the Ministry of Justice comes into force. The holdingʼs TV channels stop production of their own products.

"As of today, we are gradually working out our action plan after the shareholderʼs statement. This is a forced step dictated by the entry into force of the law "On prevention of threats to national security associated with excessive influence of persons who have significant economic and political weight in public life (oligarchs)". As the largest private investor in the economy of Ukraine, Rinat Leonidovych repeatedly emphasized that he was not, is not, and will not be an oligarch. We give up all broadcast and satellite television licenses of our channels in favor of the state. We stopped our own production and broadcasting of the TV channels Ukraina, Ukraina 24, Futbol 1/2/3, Indigo, NLO TV. We are also revoking all print licenses, including Vogue. All activities of our Segodnya mass media and the entire digital direction have been completely stopped," the letter said.

Another participant of the media market in a comment to Babel stated that other media groups are against Media Grupa Ukraina participating in the telethon. "If you leave the project, be consistent," he said.

• On July 11, 2022, Rinat Akhmetov announced that he was leaving the media business. Media Grupa Ukraina renounced all broadcast and satellite television licenses and print media licenses in Ukraine in favor of the state. The online media of the group are also not working. Rinat Akhmetovʼs media holding Media Grupa Ukraina unites the channels Ukraina, Ukraina 24, Futbol 1/2/3, NLO TV, multimedia platform Segodnya, News Group Ukraine and others.
• On July 14, Minister of Justice Denys Malyuska stated that billionaire Rinat Akhmetov no longer falls under the definition of an oligarch, as he has left the media business, and his business partner Vadym Novinsky has refused from an MP mandate.
• On September 23, 2021, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a draft law on deoligarchization. The document establishes a number of rules for those who will be included in the register of oligarchs: they will not be able to finance parties, participate in privatization, and will be required to submit an electronic declaration. All officials will have to submit a declaration of contacts if they have communication with the oligarch. If they do not submit such a declaration, they are threatened with dismissal.
• An oligarch can be recognized as a person who participates in political life, has significant influence on the mass media, is the beneficiary of a monopoly, and has assets worth more than a million living wages (approximately 2.5 billion hryvnias).
• The National Security and Defense Council has already launched a system for monitoring oligarchs.