The Suspilne board chair Mykola Chernotytskyi declared that pressure on Suspilne Broadcasting is unacceptable and the company is ready to either stay on the telethon on parity terms, or expand its broadcasting on flagship net Pershyi.

He made the statement at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy and the Committee on Freedom of Speech on May 2, reports Detector Media.

"It is unacceptable that deputies put pressure on Suspilne. We are a completely transparent company, we make all the data public – from procurement to bookings," said Mykola Chernotytskyi.

He also said that Suspilne Broadcasting was considering two possible courses of action.

"We either stay on the parity terms, or we go for the model where Souspilne expands its broadcasting on Pershyi. I also must have an understanding that this is legal, that it complies with the President's decrees, the NSDC decisions. We must have guarantees that in case we are removed from the telethon we will not be accused of undermining national security and will be able to start broadcasting on our channel," said Mykola Chernotytskyi.

The same opinion was expressed by the head of Suspilne's supervisory board, Svitlana Ostapa, who noted that "we need written guarantees that Pershiy will not be taken from us and that we will not be declared to be violating the NSDC decision."

At the end of a long discussion, the members of the Committees approved two statements and will continue consultations as they work further.

The first statement pledges to promote the development of Suspilne Broadcasting and provide it with sufficient funding for the coming year. The second statement is about observing the principles of freedom of speech and freedom of the media.

"All citizens should have access to reliable information," stressed the head of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, Mykyta Poturayev.

Today VRU Committees discussed the pressure on Suspilne Broadcasting, namely the attacks by deputy Maryana Bezuhla and attempts to remove Suspilne Broadcasting from the evening slots of the national telethon United News.