Moldovan parliament votes law on amendment, completion of Audiovisual Code

Chisinau, 26 February /MOLDPRES/ - The parliament adopted the law on the amendment and completion of the Audiovisual Code in the final reading today. Eighty one MPs backed the law.  

The law is aimed at neutralizing the process of “media’s monopolization, ensuring the defence of consumers’ rights to receive correct and objective information. The law also stipulates improvement of the legal framework, as well as ensuring competition on the market,” an informative note to the document says.  

Under the passed law, it is proposed to give a private person or legal entity the right “to hold two broadcasting licences at the most, instead of five broadcasting licences in the same administrative and territorial unit, just as the Audiovisual Code sees, and a person will be able to finance only one TV station,” the draft says.  

After the entrance into force of the document, the broadcasters’ licences will not be withdrawn; they are to be valid till the expiration of the initially provided term. Thus, only after the broadcasting licence’s term expires, it will no longer be extended.   

(Reporter A. Plitoc, editor M. Jantovan)