Media Ownership
Due to the weakness of former state-run media, private owners dominate the Ukrainian marketplace and almost all of them rank among the richest individuals in this country. Although their names are publicly known in most cases, corporate structures and affiliated economic interests remain hidden, sometimes even through offshore holdings. Ties between politics and the business sector have a long history in Ukraine and manifest in the phenomena of oligarchy and “dzhynsa”, described in the respective findings chapters of this study.
The audiovisual markets are highly concentrated, as the major four TV owners represent an audience share of more than three quarters.
The top four radio groups, for their part, even combine a reach of 92% of the audience in Ukraine.
The print media and online sectors are less concentrated. Online media in particular offer much more pluralism and choice to Internet savvy Ukrainians even though they remain unregulated by any laws in the country.
Media Owners in Ukraine need to register for audiovisual (TV and radio) media, print and information agencies, but not for publications that are distributed only online. As one of the first of its kind, Ukraine has passed a law on transparency of ownership, which, however, is not fully implemented until this date.