MOLDOVA MEDIA MACHINATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L CHISINAU 001383

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/UMB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2017
TAGS: PGOV ECON PHUM MD
SUBJECT: MOLDOVA MEDIA MACHINATIONS

Classified By: Ambassador Michael D. Kirby for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) On November 17, John Maxemchuk (protect),General
Director of Sun Communications, an American joint-venture
cable and internet service provider, told Econoff of a
request made to his company to stop the transmission of
television channels that compete with pro-President Voronin
television channels. (NOTE: Maxemchuk is also the founding
President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Moldova. He
is well and favorably known to the Embassy. END NOTE.)


2. (C) Maxemchuk told Econoff that his Moldovan partner
received a call from Vladimir Plahotniuc, General Director of
Petrom-Moldova, and Chairman of the Board of Victoriabank,
regarding Sun's problems with the National Agency for the
Protection of Competition (ANPC). (NOTE: Moldova's newly
established ANPC recently ruled against Sun's cable
operations. END NOTE.) Plahotniuc, a close business
associate of Oleg Voronin, President Vladimir Voronin's son,
offered to make Sun's problems with ANPC go away - for a
price. Plahotniuc said his associates wanted Sun to stop the
transmission of three Russian television channels broadcast
via Sun's cable system, NTV, TNT and STS. According to
Maxemchuk, Plahotniuc indicated that his business associates
separately hoped to acquire the rights for the three
television channels. The son of former Moldovan President
Petru Luchinschi controls the re-broadcast rights for NTV and
TNT; a lesser known Moldovan businessman controls the
re-broadcast of STS. We believe Plahotniuc didn't want
competition from these three channels for Russia's Channel
One (ORT) in Moldova and the Moldovan NIT channel. It is
widely believed that Oleg Voronin owns the re-broadcast
rights for ORT, and NIT is overwhelmingly pro-President
Voronin.


3. (C) Sun has 75,000 cable subscribers (about 50% of the
market share) in Chisinau, and competes with 15 smaller cable
companies. According to national media ratings, Maxemchuk
noted, the top five foreign and domestic television channels
in Moldova are: ORT, STS, NIT, Moldova One (state
television),and NTV. If Oleg Voronin and associates succeed
in shutting down the re-broadcast of these television
channels, or if they acquire the rights to re-broadcast NTV,
TNT and STS, the financial benefits from advertising would be
great. Additionally, President Voronin and his son would
dominate broadcast media in the run-up to the 2009 national
elections.


4. (C) COMMENT: Maxemchuk and his partner rebuffed
Plahotniuc's request. Maxemchuk was worried about the
influence of Oleg Voronin's associates and the possible
repercussions for his decision not to cooperate on his own
business. Maxemchuk was also concerned about the future of
broadcast media in Moldova. This case might provide insight
into President Voronin and the Communist Party's (PCRM)
thinking ahead of the 2009 election. If the PCRM believes
defeat is likely (based on the results of the June local
elections),perhaps the Voronin clan believes that acquiring
control of the most important media - television - will help
mitigate the risk. Alternatively, the Voronin family and its
close associates may simply wish to fatten their pockets
further during their remaining time in power.
KIRBY