Kyiv’s financial guarantees for Eurovision were seized at the request of Euronews
The seizure of financial guarantees for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest was made at the request of the international television channel Euronews, Zurab Alasania, chairman of the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), confirmed to journalists.
To ensure the preparation and holding of the Eurovision Song Contest, Kyiv provided the European Broadcasting Union with 15 million euros in financial guarantees. The Debt Enforcement Office of Geneva seized these funds in June. Deutsche Welle, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that the seizure could be connected to claims by the Euronews television channel against UA:PBC.
"A third party appeared after we had hired a firm, a Swiss law firm, we went to court and received the documents, which state that the claimant is Euronews. This is already official information,” the Ukrainian News Agency quoted Alasania as saying.
He added that it is possible to appeal this decision within ten days from the receipt of documents (by July 11th). Alasania also stated that on July 5th a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers took place during which this issue was discussed.
UA:PBC, which is the co-organizer of the contest in Ukraine, previously turned to a law firm from Switzerland to look into the case and clarify the details of the seizure process in accordance with Swiss law.
Ukraine won the right to host Eurovision 2017 after the victory of the Ukrainian singer, Jamala, who sang the song "1944" at the contest in Stockholm in 2016. The contest was held in Kyiv in May this year.