Ukraine: Yanukovych - Government Will Secure The Freedom of Press

SOURCE Worldwide News Ukraine
 
Creating favorable conditions for the development of the freedom of press in Ukraine is the main task of the state government as far as national media is concerned. This was stated by the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych in his speech at the 64th World Newspaper Congress and 19th World Forum of Editors in Kyiv (September 2-5, 2012). "The development of free press should be efficient, independent of any kinds of control," said Yanukovych.

The buildup of free media space and market in Ukraine is one of the key priorities of the state policy, emphasized Yanukovych. Political forces in Ukraine, even the opposing ones, agree that the only possible way of the country's development is democratic, with the freedom of speech as its core value. Ukraine managed to demonstrate a significant progress in acquiring the freedom of speech despite the heavy Soviet heritage. In the years of its independence the country has gone from total censorship to an open society.

The development of freedom of speech, however, can be achieved by the efforts of both - the government and the journalists. It should be noted that denationalization of printed media in the country is being conducted in accordance with Ukraine's commitments to PACE.

Ukrainian government will also work on securing favorable economic conditions for the printed media market, for only economically independent media can be free of any kind of control. Among other steps, the government will preserve the VAT relief for the mass media, stated Ukraine's President at the opening ceremony.

To reiterate the point of the freedom of speech in Ukraine, there was a group of people holding up placards aimed at Yanukovych during his speech. "They were not discredited and thrown out of the room, they were allowed to stay there throughout the speech of the head of state," commented the expert on media Garbis Kesisoglu, Hürriyet Gazetecilik ve Matbaacilik, participant of the Congress.

World Newspapers Congress in Kyiv will host the speakers, working for Dow Jones, Forbes, Guardian, Mail, New Delhi, The New York Times, Schibsted, Singapore Press Holdings, The Sunday Times, The Times, The Wall Street Journal, Die Zeit, and numerous others.

In October 2011, Kyiv hosted another journalist event - the 7th Global Investigative Journalism Conference.