Regional Rossiya television channel announced layoff

KABARDINO-BALKARIA, January 18, Caucasus Times – Managers of the regional branch of Rossia TV, a state-run television channel have announced recently a dismissal of at least eighty journalists and workers, Caucasus Times correspondent reports citing a source in the television company. The layoff was due to the budget cuts by Rossia TV company and the local authorities, though the republic’s government had to invest six million rubles in October, 2004 for the national television station after public protests in Kabardino-Balkaria. Scorse of public organizations had protested a reduction of broadcasting in national languages of the republic.

Meanwhile, according to the journalists, they do not know what the money has been spent for. Still, not a single show, or program have been presented on the television channel since January 1, let alone daily news broadcasted only in Russian, the journalists were quoted as saying. Ruslan Zhanimov, the chairman of the republic’s TV and Radio broadcasting company declined to comment on the situation.