Viasat has refuted the findings of an unscheduled inspection of its output in Ukraine by the country’s National Council on TV and Radio.
ProIT and Telekritika report that the council found Vision TV, which provides satellite TV services in Ukraine under the Viasat brand, was retransmitting the Russian TV channels Rossiya 24, RTR- Planeta and TV Center, as well as distributing a total of 129 channels, rather than the 73 specified in its licence.
One of these channels was the promotional channel Viasat.
In response, Oksana Ferchuk, the deputy director of Vision TV, said that due to the lack of activity by the council in the last six months the company had been unable to apply for any licence renewals.
She also categorically denied the company was relaying any Russian channels in Ukraine, with RTR-Planeta having been withdrawn on March 26 and the others never having been carried.
Ferchuk also said that Viasat was the most obedient satellite operator in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Gregorij Shverk, the council’s deputy chairman, said that its goal was not to punish Viasat.
