01. 09. 2005

TRANSITIONAL FUND FOR RTS STILL A GREAT UNKNOWN

BELGRADE, September 1, 2005 (Danas) – Debate about the draft amendments to the Broadcasting Law in the Serbian Parliament has enabled Government of the Republic of Serbia to find a solution to facilitate continuing operation of the national television. As it has been announced in the Parliament, the Government of Serbia has decided to establish a transitional fund to secure funding of Radio Television of Serbia in the following period which is planned to end after six months. RTS must become a public service after this deadline. Member of the Broadcasting council, Vladimir Cvetkovic, said for Danas that the idea to establish transitional fund originated from RTS, while the proposal has been further supported by the President of the Parliament Predrag Markovic. President of the parliamentary Board for Culture and Information, Aleksandar Lazarevic, confirmed this information for Danas. He said that the proposal came from several proponents and not just RTS. »It is true that during debates in the parliamentary Board for Culture and information Aleksandar Tijanic, director of RTS, has once proposed a transitional fund to facilitate RTS's transformation into a public service. Every model for survival of RTS has been examined«, said Lazarevic. Officials don't have any precise information on the way the funds will be used. Aleksandar Lazarevic points out that the fund which is to be secured by the Government, whether from budgetary reserves or donations, will certainly be used in a way that will ensure transformation of RTS into a public service. Although the subscription will be collected as of October, it is estimated that at least three months will pass before money is actually delivered to the bank account and revenues stabilized. Hence the need for fund, explained Aleksandar Lazarevic. Officials from the Government of Serbia and RTS's managers still don't know what a public service actually means, how its programme is produced, or the number and profiles of employees who will work in such a public system. President of the RTS's trade union Nezavisnost, Miodrag Zupanc, said for Danas that confusion in national television has been created on purpose. First there has been restitution which is intended for public companies in liquidation or being privatized, like JAT or ZTP. RTS has been put into same category, and it was done intentionally. Restitution implies a social programme, i.e. downsizing and dismissals, and if the company is large and complex like RTS, it is usually broken into “sister companies”, for example PGP RTS, Channel Three, Radio 101 – explains Miodrag Zupanc. First and most important task that lies ahead of RTS is its transformation into a public service, which is stipulated by the Broadcasting Law. But national television's biggest problem is that no one knows what public service actually is, how such programme is produced, exact number and profile of staff members in news, culture, education, sports and other departments. The worst problem is the fact that the company is being disintegrated without rebuilding or privatization. Using this method the government is spreading confusion in the national television. The biggest chance for RTS is creation of public service with new and clear rules of conducting business and producing programme, said Zupanc. For the time being, 1.100 employees will have to leave RTS. If sister companies had been separated, national TV would have employed 600 people less than before. Representatives of the trade union discussed future of RTS with the President of the Broadcasting Council, Nenad Cekic, and the Minister of Culture, Dragan Kojadinovic. They were shocked when they realized that no one knows what a public service truly is. Responsibility is always shifted to someone else, says the president of the trade union of RTS Nezavisnost. Broadcasting Council should prepare project or proposal of the transformation of RTS into a public service, believes Zupanc. The proposal should then be publicly discussed by representatives of NUNS and UNS, associations of artists and actors, NGOs and experts from various fields.