Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, in Ukrainian 24 Mar 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Mar 24, 2004

In an article published on 23 March, Ukrayinska Pravda said it had received copies of what it described as written instructions regularly sent out to TV channels by the presidential administration. The instructions, known as "temnyky", define the channels' news agenda and the spin editors are required to put on the news, the web site said.

It published excerpts from the document saying that highly critical statements by the European Union and the US State Department on the closure of prominent opposition media in Ukraine should be ignored.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"On 18 March, reports were released about the European Union's statement regarding freedom of speech in Ukraine," the web site quoted the document as saying. "No commentary on the issue," the document went on. It also told the channels to ignore comments made by the US and British ambassadors to Ukraine.

As a result, the two leading Ukrainian TV channels, Inter and One Plus One, completely ignored the EU statement, Ukrayinska Pravda said. It added that both channels were linked to presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk.

In the group of three smaller broadcasters linked to influential pro-presidential MP and business tycoon Viktor Pinchuk, only one, STB, mentioned the EU statement.

SOROS

On 24 March, Ukrayinska Pravda published more excerpts from the "temnyky" and alleged that the government is orchestrating a smear campaign against George Soros, a prominent critic of President Leonid Kuchma's administration. The document tells TV channels to feature analysts criticizing Soros.

"Soros acquired his riches in a dubious way," the document reads. "He uses his money to obtain confidential information... and encourage `brain drain', especially from the former Soviet states... He actively interferes in other countries' internal affairs, which leads to tragic consequences (hundreds of casualties in Yugoslavia in 2000 and the violent overthrow of the government in Georgia, which has put the country on the brink of economic collapse and civil war)."

A similarly worded comment was later featured in the main evening news bulletin on Inter, the web site said.

The Ukrainian government has come under harsh Western criticism over the closure of opposition media outlets ahead of the October presidential election. The government denies any political motives behind the problems faced by the opposition TV 5 Kanal, Radio Kontynent, Radio Roks and several smaller broadcasters.