Scarce funding may stop Russian Channel One broadcasts in Kyrgyzstan
BISHKEK. March 27 (Interfax) - Kyrgyztelecom has asked the government to decide before April 1 on funding Russian Channel One broadcasts in Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyztelecom CEO Askar Baratbayev told reporters on Wednesday.
The Kyrgyz government stopped allocations for the broadcast on March 20, he said.
"The broadcasts are continuing so far and they will continue until the government makes a final decision," Baratbayev said.
Kyrgyzstan annually purchases broadcasting rights pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement, he said.
In fact, the funds assigned by the government will stay in Kyrgyzstan because Russia pays for the transmission to a Kyrgyztelecom unit.
The Kyrgyz Finance Ministry ordered to stop financing the Channel One broadcasts after the Parliament Committee on Budget and Finance had said the expenditures were too large.
A source at the Channel One Kyrgyzstan office told Interfax on Wednesday that the broadcasts are the responsibility of the founders, among them Kyrgyzstan's Public Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation.
