The Prime Minister assured that the government is working to attract resources to meet the needs and improve the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
>Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmigal responded to the petition for redirection funds intended for the production of the United News telethons and the FreeDom TV channel, to finance drones and pickup trucks for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
As noted in the answer, Szmigal considers this inappropriate.
“Since ensuring information security is part of state policy in the field of national security and defense, and the implementation of a unified information policy is a priority issue of national security, the financing of relevant measures is a significant component of countering the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in particular in the information space. Accordingly, redistribution the expenses indicated in the petition by directing them to the needs of other components of the security and defense sector is not advisable,” the response to the petition says.
The Prime Minister also added that the government is systematically working to attract financial, logistical and other resources, including international assistance, to meet the needs and increase the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The petition received 29 562 votes for less than three months: from January 17 to April 3, 2024.
It said that the United News and Freedom telethons were extremely expensive for the state budget.
“In 2022 and 2023, UAH 2.13 billion was spent on them. For this amount, one could buy 21,515 DJI Mavic 3 quadcopters or 4,000 pickup trucks in good condition. By 2024, telethons will already be financed almost 2 billion hryvnia were pledged,” noted the author, Pavel Belous.
- In early April, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy confirmed the status of TV channels participating in the United News telethon as critical for the functioning of the economy and ensuring the livelihoods of the population during a special period.
- Before that, on March 29, the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of Ukraine Olga Peschanskaya said that the Accounts Chamber will check the effective and targeted use of budget funds to finance the telethon when the opportunity arises.
- Also on April 1, the chairman of the Council Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, said that if by the end of the year there is no return of at least partial confidence in the unified news telethon, it will be necessary to think about ending it.
- The telethon is broadcast on several national networks channels from February 26, 2022 after the start of the large-scale Russian invasion. A number of TV channels began joint broadcasting as part of the telethon: “Rada”, 1+1, “Obshchestvennoe”, ICTV/STB, “Inter” and “Ukraine 24”, which then replaced the “We are Ukraine” channel.
- According to surveys, 50% of Ukrainians do not watch the national telethon, 13% watch regularly, 37% occasionally. 14% of those surveyed among those who regularly/occasionally watch the telethon completely trust the information on the telethon broadcasts, 57% rather trust it, 14% rather distrust it, 3% do not completely trust it, 12% find it difficult to answer. .
- 21% of respondents believe that the broadcast of the telethon should be cancelled, 20% – rather cancelled, 24% – rather not cancelled, 14% – should not be cancelled, 21% – found it difficult to answer.
- Research shows that the trust of Ukrainians surveyed in the telethon continues to decline. If between May 2022 and October 2023 the share of those who trust it decreased from 69% to 48%, then by December 2023 the figure dropped to 43%.
- The telethon is financed from the state budget with considerable funds. For 2024, 1.94 billion hryvnia have been allocated for the telethon and other information projects. The Office of the President said that they saw no reason to close the telethon, but promised that it would be reformatted.
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