Businessman Rinat Akhmetov has announced that his investment company SCM will exit its media business and surrender for the benefit of the state all Ukrainian media licenses due to entering into force of the anti-oligarch law.
“I made an involuntary decision that my investment company SCM will exit its media business. This week Media Group Ukraine will surrender for the benefit of the State all Ukrainian licenses of our television channels for terrestrial and satellite broadcasting, as well as print media licenses. We shall also cease operations of MGU’s [Media Group Ukraine] online media,” he said in a statement posted on SCM’s website on Monday.
This decision is driven by entering into force of the law of Ukraine on preventing threats to national security associated with excessive influence by persons who wield significant economic and political weight in public life (oligarchs), according to the statement.
“Being the largest private investor in the Ukrainian economy, I have repeatedly stated that I have never been and am not going to be an oligarch. A short six-month term provided for by the Law for the sale of media assets, coupled with the Russian military aggression against Ukraine make it impossible for SCM to sell its media business on market terms,” the businessman said.
Akhmetov also said that the MGU was set up in 2000 and the total amount of investment in this media business exceeded $1.5 billion.
“However, the most valuable investment is that of each of 4,000 journalists and employees of our media team. Owing to your great work, Ukraine and Ukraine 24 became the top Ukrainian TV channels ranked by share of viewing, and millions of football fans had gathered before TV screens to watch our Football channels. This is why the decision to exit media business is so hard for me. I want to thank everyone for our joint efforts and our common success,” Akhmetov said.
Media Group Ukraine will return to the state only the broadcasting licenses it previously received from it, Natalia Yemchenko, the director of communications of SCM, the largest Ukrainian private investment company, which includes the group, said.
“We return to the state only licenses (which it issued to us) for broadcasting. That’s all. We do not transfer any other assets of the media group (apart from these licenses) to the state – neither brands, nor libraries,” she noted on Facebook.
Yemchenko said that on Tuesday, July 12, SCM will issue a release with certain details about the exit from the media business.
She also noted that the group does not know how the state will dispose of these licenses.