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State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin called relevant international practice a bill to limit the proportion of foreign shareholders in the media up to 20%, reports “Interfax”.
According to him, it is common practice that the national legislation to protect the sovereignty and limits foreign ownership of the media.
According to the State Council meeting correspondent of RBC, the first reading of the bill can be held on September 23.
On the eve introduced in the State Duma a bill supported by Deputy Secretary of the General Council of “United Russia” Sergei Zhelezniak. According to him, the document is aimed primarily at providing information sovereignty and Russia to reduce the impact from the outside – the initiative “is relevant in today’s international realities and launched against the country’s media war».
Deputies Vadim Dengin (LDPR faction), Vladimir Parahin (“Fair Russia”) and Denis Voronenkov (CPRF) made on Wednesday, September 17, the State Duma amendments to the law “On Mass Media”. The bill establishes new restrictions on founders media. Now a foreign legal entity or Russian legal entity, in which the share of foreign legal entities is 50% or more, can not establish television and radio channels. It is forbidden to them and act as founders of Russian companies, if they carry out broadcasting in more than half of the subjects of the Russian Federation or in the territory, with a population of at least half the country’s population. All these prohibitions apply in relation to foreign nationals, stateless persons and Russians with dual citizenship.
The authors propose amendments to extend the restrictions on all media. In addition to television and radio, they would fall under as periodic print and online publications. Maximum permissible limit of foreign ownership in this case will be reduced to 20%.
The main innovation is the prohibition of foreign ownership in the Russian media over 20%, manage or control them, not only directly but also indirectly. The current version of the law “On Mass Media” allows indirect foreign ownership of television and radio stations through a chain of Russian legal entities.
The probability of acceptance of the bill is very large, the source said RBC close to the leadership of the State Duma. In the Ministry of Communications, these amendments did not receive and review the ministry did not give them, says Deputy Minister Alexei Volin. Not familiar with the text of the document and in Roskomnadzor which detects the media and, according to the deputies will keep track of whether new restrictions are observed.
It is expected that the amendments, if adopted, will take effect from January 2016 . At the same time bring their constituent documents in compliance with the new requirements of the media should, by 1 February 2016, and by February 15, they must submit to the Roscomnadzor information confirming that such work is performed. If this is not done, the agency should be in court to suspend the activities of the media. Russian beneficiaries, controlling the media through foreign companies will have a reprieve until 2017.
Artem Filipenok Svetlana Reuters
Television
In the etheric TV today, there are only two international strategic investors: Swedish Modern Times Group, which owns 37.9% of television holding “CTC Media” (STS channels, “Home” and “Pepper”), and the American Walt Disney Co., which owns 49% of the channel Disney. Also, now on the NASDAQ was trading about 36% of the parent company “CTC Media”, registered in the state of Delaware, – CTC Media Inc. Official representatives of the “CTC Media” and the Disney Channel declined to comment made by the State Duma amendments.
But foreign broadcasters are well represented on the thematic TV: via cable and satellite in Russia today extend Russian versions of channels such as Discovery, TV 1000, Universal Channel, Nickelodeon, Sony Sci-Fi and others. Founders of the media in accordance with the current version of the law of the media are Russian legal entities, but their owners – foreign companies. For example, the founder of the registered Roskomnadzor electronic media Discovery Channel (E certificate number 77-49139 FS 26 March 2012) – LLC “Discovery Kommyunikeyshns”, 49% owned by UK-registered DN Publishing Music Ltd, 51% – OOO “Discovery Holding . ” Its owner, in turn, serves all the same DN Publishing Music Ltd. A representative group of Discovery in Russia declined to comment.
Radio
In the broadcasting of foreign strategic investors today do not. It is noteworthy that the French group Lagardere, in late 2011, sold the Kemerovo holding “Siberian Business Union” 100% European media group (the radio “Europa Plus”, “Retro FM» and others.), His reason for leaving the Russian name just a change in the Russian legislation. Ban foreigners from owning more than 50% in the electronic media distributed initially only on TV channels, radio stations came under this restriction only in 2011.
Internet
In the Internet’s most popular online resources are not media. Do not have a certificate of registration of mass media in the Russian-language sites Roskomnadzor and Western media companies. For example, in the appropriate register not listed site of the Russian Service BBC – bbc.co.uk/Russian.
Publications
Foreign investors are well represented in print. ID Burda (magazine “Lisa», Playboy, Ooops !, «Spending”, etc..) 100% owned by the German group Hubert Burda Media. Its fully-controlled units in Russia are at the American Foreign Conde Nast (magazines Vogue, GQ, Glamour, Tatler et al.) And German Foreign Axel Springer (Forbes, OK !, Geo et al.). The main owner of the companies that form the ID Sanoma Independent Media (Cosmopolitan, «Fireside», Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia, Men’s Health, National Geographic, The Moscow Times, «Vedomosti», etc..) Is a Finnish Sanoma Corp. And the American Hearst Corp. owns 50% in the ID Hearst Shkulev Media (Elle, Maxim, Marie Claire, Psychologies, «Antenna-Telesem», StarHit et al.). Representatives of Conde Nast, Sanoma Independent Media, Axel Springer declined to comment. Other ID did not respond to a request to RBC.
September 18, 2014
RBC
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