MP from "Servant of the People" Oleksiy Kovalyov became famous when at the end of 2021 he became the owner of "Channel 4", which was in opposition to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The channel is currently broadcasting the National Telemarathon. And Kovalyov returned to the occupied territory in Kherson oblast. Because of this, he cannot pay the workers.
Oleksiy Kovalyov spoke about this in an interview with "Babel".
"We have a salary arrears for February, we will pay it off. At the moment, I canʼt put money in the account and pay the salary, because the banking system in Kherson oblast is not working. As soon as it works, we will repay the salary in full. I told the workers about it," the MP assures.
But, according to Kovalyov, not all employees understand the situation.
"Someone does not understand and writes that I am a traitor because I did not pay my salary for one month during the war. There are different situations, but I want to confirm to you that we will not deceive journalists — we will pay salaries for February as soon as possible," Kovalyov said.
He notes that those of his enterprises that are currently operating and are break-even have managed to increase wages by 30-35%. Oleksiy Kovalyov does not know what will happen to the salaries of "Channel 4" employees and claims that the channel did not work in March and April.
"I want it to work. Maybe the state will help, because now it uses our broadcaster — they broadcast the National Marathon. Maybe we will receive at least a salary from the state. I will pay for the license myself, there will be no problems with it. Letʼs see how the situation will unfold further," the MP said.
- On December 28, 2021, it became known that Oleksiy Kovalyov, an MP of the Servant of the People faction, had bought Channel 4. More precisely, his parents gave him the TV channel. According to the MPʼs declaration, the total value of the "non-monetary gift" is UAH 4.5 million.
- Oleksiy Kovalyov explained the purchase of Channel 4 as the need to broadcast "objective news" as opposed to pro-oligarchic media and promised not to interfere in editorial policy.