Reality Blurred in Kyrgyz TV Dispute

Management and staff at Piramida, an independent television and radio broadcaster in Kyrgyzstan, are up in arms at a takeover they say could undermine their freedom of speech.



The new shareholders say the change in ownership is perfectly legal and will not alter editorial policy at Piramida.



The case highlights the politically-charged atmosphere surrounding any major change in company ownership in Kyrgyzstan, especially in a sensitive area like the media.



Staff at Piramida were told on December 8 that Areopag Ltd, a telecommunications firm, had sold its 50 per cent stake in their company to a previously unheard of firm called Invest Media.



Concerned at rumours the TV station was to be turned into a youth entertainment channel, the employees began a round of protests, culminating in a December 12 demonstration outside the Kyrgyz parliament. Many covered their mouths with tape to express concerns about free speech.



The takeover might have gone more smoothly if there had not been questions about the buyer and confusion about the actual transaction itself.



Invest Media was only set up in August this year, and as far as IWPR has been able to ascertain has no other major commercial assets.



Different accounts are circulating about the exact status of the share transaction.



What is certain is that back in April 2004, Piramida ran into technical problems with its transmitters, and took a loan of 100,000 US dollars from Areopag, a telecommunications firm, to cover equipment costs.



What happened then is less clear. According to Piramida’s managers, the arrangement was that 50 per cent of Piramida's shares were transferred to Areopag as collateral – but that did not mean Aeropag owned the shares in the full sense, since they were to be handed back once the debt was paid.



Piramida’s position is that they still had two years left to pay off the debt, but they will pay it all back now to recover the shares. “We are now prepared to repay the sum we received from Areopag and restore the status quo,” said Oleg Vassil, the company’s vice-president.



Piramida’s management asserts that Aeropag had no right to sell the shares on to a third party.



Invest Media disputes that. At the December 9 press conference at which it announced the takeover, Invest Media distributed copies of a document from March 2004 which states that Areopag was now a shareholder with full rights. Therefore, says Invest Media, Areopag had every right to sell its stock.



“The management at Piramida is intentionally deluding the public by talking about a three-year interest-free loan,” said Illarion Adamyan, legal advisor to Invest Medai. “They don’t even have the documents to prove it. But there are documents to show Areopag became a capital investor by the consent of all parties.”



The remaining 50 per cent of the Piramida shares are held by a number of individual shareholders who have not acted as a united body, so the buyer is likely to have a major say in company decision-making.



The editor-in-chief of Piramida TV and radio, Elina Chernyavskaya, believes the new stakeholders will change the format of the news and turn the channel into a youth and entertainment channel. “The team don’t want to work like this – the journalists are demanding that we keep to the same format,” she said.



The ownership dispute escalated into a standoff on December 9, when Invest Media representatives tried to enter the building.



Station output editor Igor Potanin, “After the TV company’s management refused to hold talks, around 20 30 employees of the Oktyabrsky district police department and representatives of Media Invest came to the office. The police said that they’d received information that the journalists were causing disturbances.”



The police then took over the offices of the station’s senior management, only leaving when a member of parliament, Kabay Karabekov, arrived on the scene.



At around midnight the same day, there was another apparent attempt to take over the station. The electricity was cut, and about ten young men tried to force their way in. As presenter Anna Sakhartseva said in a live broadcast, “They tried to break down the door, smash the windows and get into the building. They threatened journalists and human rights activists…. [and] started to drag away reporters who had formed a living shield in front of the TV and radio building. The attackers were armed.”



The police returned, but according to Piramida staff took no action.



“This is yet another example of lawlessness in uniform,” said Sadyk Sher Niyaz, the deputy ombudsman of Kyrgyzstan. He added that he was “amazed” at the action taken by police, as “this is a civil matter, and should be resolved exclusively through the courts”.



Invest Media lawyer Adamyan insisted no attempt to force entry was made though he conceded that the firm had taken “measures”.



“There was no storming [of the building]. All this excitement has a mundane cause – a disagreement between parties. We decided to take measures to minimise financial losses. It was an attempt to safeguard property,” he said.



Piramida staff and some politicians say the takeover is part of a wider pattern of property dealings since the demise of the government of Askar Akaev in March. Critics of the new government of Kurmanbek Bakiev say it is turning a blind eye to semi-legal transfers of assets from the old to the new elite.



“A division of property is taking place, and Bolshevik methods are being used to do it,” said Karabekov. “Property is being seized… in the most barefaced and unceremonious manner. Instead of doing good for the country’s citizenry, the new authorities are taking things away from them. It’s a national disgrace.”



Invest Media’s executive director Sultan Kurmanbaev dismissed these claims in an interview with IWPR



“It’s all a matter of the financial and economic relationships between the parties,” he said. “There’s no hidden political agenda here. Unfortunately, the public is being misled about this problem. All the accusations [against us] are unfounded.



“All our actions are in absolute accordance with the law. And we are prepared to defend our interests in court.”



Invest Media has given assurances that - contrary to rumour - the change in ownership will not have any effect on Piramida’s editorial output.



But memories of government attempts to curb free speech when Akaev was in power remain very much alive, and some observers fear the new Bakiev administration could be heading the same way for all its democratic statements.



“I call on the regime to leave freedom of speech alone in Kyrgyzstan, because it is the only thing that’s left in our country,” said Sher Niyaz.



Member of parliament Melis Eshimkanov accuses the government of actively trying to win control of the media. “I see it as an infringement of freedom of speech. The authorities’ methods are very cynical,” said Eshimkanov.



Elvira Sarieva, the executive director of the local Internews office, recommends that Invest Media should do its best to mitigate the “political overtones” of the dispute.



“They should formulate an editorial policy which staff and owners can sign up to,” she said. “If there were any pressure from the owners, this document would serve as the guidelines.”



On December 12, the Kyrgyz parliament set up a special commission to look into the Piramida dispute. The same day, Bakiev instructed Deputy Prime Minister Adakhan Madumarov to talk with all sides in the dispute and take any necessary measures to resolve it. “If it transpires that anyone’s rights were violated in the course of the transaction, everything should be resolved through legal channels, in court,” he said.



Leila Saralaeva is an IWPR contributor in Bishkek.