Estonia and Lithuania will close more than 20 Russian channels due to commercial criteria

(corrects the headline) Riga, Feb 22 The largest cable television and internet companies in Estonia and Lithuania reported this Tuesday that they will stop broadcasting more than 20 Russian television channels from the end of April. Both Swedish-owned Telia Eesti and its rival Elisa in Estonia and Telia Lietuva in Lithuania announced this decision the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the self-proclaimed breakaway republics of Donbas. However, Telia justified its decision on the grounds that the transmission conditions of Russian televisions were not compatible with the commercial practices of the Swedish group. In Estonia, the Telia subsidiary reported the end of its relationship with Nord Print, the rights provider for 26 Russian channels, because its practices are not in line with its company’s business standards. Local media claimed that Elisa had acted for similar reasons. From Lithuania, Telia announced that it would stop broadcasting the Russian channels, whose contract expired at the end of April, and that it would not sign another agreement with another similar company because it would not meet its commercial transparency criteria. The affected Russian channels include news programs, movies and sports, some of which had previously been temporarily suspended on the grounds that they spread propaganda or xenophobic content. Around 24% of the Estonian population is of Russian origin, a figure that drops to 5% in Lithuania. Most of the adult population of both Baltic countries have Russian as a second language and usually watch Russian channels for their movies or entertainment programs. In Latvia, the population of Russian origin accounts for 25.4 percent, while the percentage of those who are proficient in that language is somewhat higher. The telecommunications and entertainment company Tet, associated with Telia, has not explained its future plans with the Russian-language channels. Tet and other television providers in Latvia have complied with the decisions of the National Council for Electronic Media and temporarily suspended Russian channels, either for reasons related to their content or irregularities in their licences. EFE jkz/gc/psh

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