Press releases

YABLOKO opposes transformation of the TVS channel into a state-owned company
Press release, April 16, 2003
Such a step will lead to a monopoly on the information transmitted to Russia’s citizens. It is especially dangerous on the threshold of the parliamentary and presidential elections, when television is transformed into the main source of information on the competing political forces.

Sergei Ivanenko warns against attempts to influence the course of the President of Russia
Press Release, April 24, 2002
Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma Sergei Ivanenko thinks that some "influential political forces" are testing out public opinion via different political structures, including that of the Duma, as they plan to make changes to the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

On the Situation with the TV6 television channel
Press release, January 24, 2002
The Political Council of the Russian Party of the Centre - Yabloko, St. Petersburg, expresses its protest at the liquidation of the TV-6 television channel and considers that this represents a logical continuation of the policies aimed at eliminating all mass media independent of the authorities.

Sergei Ivanenko: termination of the TV6 broadcasting channel is part of the construction of a manageable democracy in Russia
Press Release January 22, 2002
Termination of the TV6 broadcasting channel “dotted the “i”s and crossed the “t”s and represents a bright example of the construction of a manageable democracy in our country,” said Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma Sergei Ivanenko in an interview with journalists on January 22, 2002. This decision “demonstrates to all the citizens of Russia that the numerous talks on the so-called dispute of economic entities, temporary license and protection of rights of the work collective, that have developed for about a year already, that all these talks were a mere screen,” said Ivanenko.

Sergei Mitrokhin, Deputy Chairman of the YABLOKO party: Liquidation of TV-6 will lead to the ultimate monopoly of the state on the electronic mass media
Press release, January 11, 2002
Deputy chairman of the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO and deputy of the State Duma Sergei Mitrokhin sharply criticised the decision of the Praesidium of the RF Supreme Arbitration Court to liquidate the TV-6 television company.

Press Ministry Pulls the Plug on TVS
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, June 23, 2003
TVS was the last private national channel, and its closure gives the Kremlin a monopoly on the airwaves ahead of December's parliamentary elections and the March presidential vote.

Vice-Speaker of the State Duma Vladimir Lukin: "We should wait and see how Kiselyov's river will flow in Primakov's banks."
Rosbalt, April 11, 2002
Ekaterinburg, April 11. Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the RF, member of the Yabloko faction, Vladimir Lukin said that he was glad that the TV6 team would be able to work again "under new banners". He made this statement at a press conference in Ekaterinburg, where he went to support the regional branch of YABLOKO at the elections to the Legislative Assembly in Sverdlovsk Region scheduled for April 14, 2002. However, according to Lukin, "we should wait and see how Kiselyov's river will flow in Primakov's banks."

Accepting the Inevitable
Vremya Novostei, January 14, 2002
 Not surprisingly, there is some weariness in politicians’ comments about TV6 – most were used during the recent conflict around NTV. These two stories have a lot in common - the same team headed by the same leader, Yevgeni Kiselev, faces the same situation again.

TV6 mulls closure, prepares appeal
The Russia Journal, January 25, 2002
MOSCOW - Directors of the largest Russian television station outside Kremlin control said Monday they could start winding up the company next month, if a last-ditch legal appeal of a court closure order failed.

Vladimir Lukin, member of the Yabloko faction, on halting the broadcasting of TV-6
NTV.RU, January 23, 2002
"For the first time since Brezhnev's period I have a feeling of constant and lasting shame for my country." This was the reaction of the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma and member of the Yabloko faction Vladimir Lukin to the closure of the TV-6 television channel. Lukin expressed his opinion on the Ekho Moskvi radio station.

Deputy of the State Duma Valery Ostanin: Liquidation of TV-6 is not a dispute between economic subjects, it is the manifestation of political will at the top
RosBusinessConsultingl, January 23, 2002
Liquidation of TV-6 is not a dispute between economic subjects, this is manifestation of thepolitical will at the top. 

Putin snipes at Berezovsky in media row
Reuters , January 23, 2002
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin appears determined to rid Russian television of the influence of powerful exiled tycoons - even at the risk of damaging his diplomatic credentials with the West.

Closure of TV6 sparks wide concern
Reuters , January 23, 2002
MOSCOW - Russia abruptly pulled the plug on its only nationwide independent television station on Tuesday, giving the Kremlin a monopoly of the airwaves for the first time since the Soviet era and sparking international concern.

All-sports replaces TV6 broadcasting
Associated Press, January 22, 2002
MOSCOW - Russia's TV6 broadcasting was replaced by all-sports news programming Tuesday, hours after authorities took TV6, the last independent, national station, off the air.

TV6 Case Sets a Bad Example
The Moscow Times, January 15, 2002
The liquidation of TV6 is not, as much of the Western media insists on describing it, the end of independent national television in Russia. TV6 is independent of the government, but it is controlled by Boris Berezovsky, who openly acknowledges that it is politics, not business, that drives his interest in the television station.

TV6 Team Asks to Stay on the Air By Robin Munro Staff Writer
The Moscow Times, January 15, 2002
The management of TV6 made a proposal Monday that it hopes will allow it to preserve its journalistic team and continue running the television station, which a court last week ordered closed. TV6 management wrote a letter to Press Minister Mikhail Lesin giving up the station's broadcasting licence so it could form a new company in time to bid for the license when a tender is held in April. In the meantime, it asked to be allowed to continue broadcasting.

Media Freedom Discussed in Russia
Associated Press, January 14, 2002

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's top broadcasting official said Monday that his office is working on bidding procedures for the broadcast license held by TV6, the independent TV station that lost a legal battle to prevent its closure.

Russian Authorities Mull TV6 License
Associated Press, January 14, 2002
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's top broadcasting official said Monday that his office is working on bidding procedures for the broadcast license held by TV6, the independent TV station that lost a legal battle to prevent its closure.

TV6 Ruling Angers Liberal Politicians
The Moscow Times, January 14, 2002
A number of prominent politicians lashed out at the Higher Arbitration Court's decision Friday to liquidate TV6, calling it a political move that spelled trouble for other independent media.

Lucoil Co. Wants to Buy TV Rights
By ANGELA CHARLTON, Associated Press Writer, January 12, 2002
MOSCOW (AP) - After persuading a court to shut down Russia's largest independent television network, a subsidiary of the country's biggest oil company said Saturday it wants to buy the channel's broadcasting rights.

Statement of Chairman of the Russian Democratic Party "YABLOKO" Grigory Yavlinsky on the situation around TV6
January 11, 2002
Today's decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the RF to liquidate the TV6 television company confirms the worst apprehensions on the prospects of independent media in Russia. This decision can be put at the same level as last year's destruction of NTV and the recent verdict on Grigory Pasko.

Russian TV Station Ordered to Close
Associated Press, January 11, 2002
MOSCOW (AP) - A court ordered the closure of the last national television network outside the government's control Friday - a decision prompting concern about media freedom in Russia.