Page 22 - bne_newspaper_January_12_2018

Weekly Lists
January 12, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 22
bne:TMT Poland rescinds TVN
fine
Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) has cancelled on January 10 its own decision to fine the US-owned media group TVN PLN1.48mn (€350,000) for covering protests against government plans to limit media access to the parliament in December 2016.
The decision comes after the fine, slapped on the company in mid- December, caused widespread controversy in the international media and drew criticism from the US Department of State.
KRRiT did not provide explanation for its decision to revoke the fine. The body said, however, that there was an urgent need to work out new “self-regulatory rules” for the media in Poland in order to counter “brutalisation of public life in Poland” and “fake news”.
KRRiT, which is dominated by PiS nominees, fined TVN for the coverage of the events – by TVN’s news channel TVN24 – which it said violated Poland’s media law by “promoting illegal activities and encouraging behaviour that threatens security".
The media company said a report, based on which KRRiT decided on the fine, was manipulated. For example, it failed to mention that TVN24 gave extensive airtime to PiS representatives through- out the crisis, TVN charged.
A court in Cyprus has frozen $820mn in assets belonging to Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest oligarch, in a long-running legal dispute over the country’s biggest fixed-line telecoms group Ukrtelecom.
The decision by the District Court of Nicosia related to Akhmetov and nine other parties was made on December 27, the Financial Times reported on January 6. The claimant is Raga Establishment, which is owned by Denis Gorbunenko, a former Ukrainian banker, has been pursuing Akhmetov and others seeking full payment for the sale of Ukrtelecom.
Raga said it sold Ukrtelecom to Akhmetov for $860mn in 2013, with the oligarch paying $100mn upfront but nothing since.
Under the freeze order, Akhmetov and other respondents are free to deal with their property so long as assets worth at least $820.5mn – the amount sought by Raga in the litigation – are preserved and certain large transactions are notified to Raga in advance.
Cypriot court freezes Akhmetov’s assets