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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

or How television companies evade taxes

21 September, 1999 - 00:00

According to the company's press service, the channel's Ukreksimbank (Ukrainian Export- Import Bank) account is frozen and a new project would require setting up an infrastructure, purchasing equipment, and using additional funds to ensure quality. All this is impossible for the time being. Thus “Vikna” is not likely to go on the air in the near future. The company hopes that this explanation will be met with understanding.

At a press conference in Ivano- Frankivsk last Sunday, President Kuchma was asked about tax inspections underway in the media. He replied that the tax authorities spent a month recording programs beamed by various television companies and compared this to the amount received as tax returns from them.

None of them has been paying the advertisement tax, declared Mr. Kuchma, and the amounts due are in the millions of hryvnias. In fact he said (and this was broadcast verbatim by UT-1) that “not a single company has been in practice paying for advertising work...” Did he mean all of Ukraine's commercial channels, among them Inter, 1+1, et al .? Or should one interpret the context of what was said in Ivano-Frankivsk — and what later appeared in news agencies' releases — that he actually meant only those channels which “filed claims”? This discrepancy between what the President meant and what he said makes one wonder about (a) his inadequate response to the situation concerning the media and (b) the regime's increasingly awkward endeavors in trying to justify the obviously political backdrop of the taxmen's operations. STB is a very good example, as there is every indication pointing to those on high being resolved to prevent transmission from the Verkhovna Rada hall at any cost.

Commenting on the Ukrainian press, Leonid Kuchma suggested that there should be no government-run publications in the future, adding, however, that this takes time and that the state “must and will support newspapers” for the time being.

The President further voiced his surprise that the parliamentary organ Holos Ukrayiny exists at the taxpayer's expense, yet currently is “servicing one or two politicians.” Mr. Kuchma seemed to have forgotten about how many newspapers (government-run and privately owned) were “servicing” him.

In view of this statement, STB's press service made public a statement to the effect that the channel has made all the legally required tax payments, advertising tax included. STB's monthly advertising returns are in the tens of thousands of hryvnia being transferred to its bank account, and not in the millions, which is something any expert will attest to, reads the statement.

“This is precisely why we feel sure that the Ukrainian President's statement could refer to the private STB International Media Center joint stock company and we further consider that the UNIAN and Interfax Ukraine news agencies acted improperly drawing parallels between that statement and the channel's performance; this could damage both the President's prestige and STB's reputation,” the press service stressed.

Olha Taukach, director general of the Gravis Television and Radio Company, told The Day that the President could not have implied her company either, because the tax authorities had not had the time even to study her financial documents. As for its account, blocked by the tax administration, the situation remains deadlocked, yet she believes that what happened has nothing to do with the company's financial problems, particularly advertising tax liabilities. Most likely it has everything to do with a political order made in somebody's election headquarters.

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