Zurab Alasania leaves the post of General Director of National Television Company of Ukraine (NTCU). Alasania wrote about this on Facebook.
General Director of the National Television Company of Ukraine Zurab Alasania said that he wrote a letter of resignation from his post at his own request because of problems with the budget of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, as well as because of the difficulties with the government funding in Ukraine of the Public Television on the basis of the NTCU.
"There is the budget for Eurovision that existing laws and codes (Tax and Budget) do not allow us to use. However, it's not the one and only problem with the budget. The government (by hands of the Ministry of Finance) has included Eurovision budget into NTCU budget for 2017. That is to say, from $ 46.2 million, provided by the government for the development of the public broadcaster in 2017, the state takes away $ 17.3 million for Eurovision, $ 9.6 million for a payment for translation costs, $ 5.7 million for expenditure, and the city takes $ 1.8 million for utility bills. Another $ 4.3 million go to international activities (Olympic Games, world championships, etc.). So there is only $ 7.5 million left", wrote Alasania.
At the same time, he stressed that "this act is not a blackmail of the authorities. It is the assumption that in the transition period the company should be headed by a person who is more willing to reach the compromise, who has flexibility, and the ability to negotiate and deal with conflicting interests and interested parties.
Alasania also said that he won’t leave his post and will hand over the reins to the person who will be appointed in the next two weeks.
Zurab Alasania, worked as General Director of the National Television Company of Ukraine since March 5, 2014.
