Yerevan Likely To Allow More Russian TV Broadcasters Operate In Armenia - Watchdog

YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2020) Chairman of the Armenian Commission on tv and Radio, Tigran Hakobyan, on Tuesday announced a possible agreement with Moscow that will allow more Russian TV channels to broadcast in the country.

Currently, Russia's Rossiya Kultura, Channel One, RTR-Planeta and Mir are being broadcast in Armenia.

"We will likely sign an international agreement with Russia and give Russian companies one or two republican and capital slots [frequencies]," Hakobyan said during a meeting to review licensing requests.

According to the chairman, the tender is for 25 frequencies and foreign broadcasters are to be licensed on the basis of an international agreement, bypassing competition. He added that the outcome will be determined in January.

Lianna Dohikyan, the head of the commission's licensing department, has told Sputnik that foreign channels were licensed and will broadcast until January 20, 2021 when their licenses expire. According to her, if foreign agreements are signed before that, the channels will continue broadcasting on the basis of the new agreements.