35 Mass Media outlets to be privatised in Kazakhstan

Almaty. June 3. Silkroadnews – 35 Mass Media outlets are to be partially or completely privatised in Kazakhstan. The subsequent decree has been issued by the government of the country.
35 Mass Media outlets are to be privatised in the next 2 years. 27 of them are newspapers of city, regional and provincial importance, TV and Radio Broadcasting companies, Media Holdings and corporations.
“This move of the government can only be applauded. This creates a precedent for the other Mass Media companies where the state is a majority shareholder. This includes newspapers of Republican importance, TV and radio channels”, Seytkazy Matayev, the chairman of Kazakhstan’s Union of Journalists commented.
He thinks it is also highly important who is to own newly privatised outlets.
“If the assets are to be transferred to the teams of journalists with the goal of preserving historical traditions and guarding the freedom of press, journalist community is to welcome those changes. If, on the other hand, the outlets are to be owned by some government-affiliated enterprises, then there is no point in such privatisation. I am afraid the second scenario has the potential to come into being. At the same time, ever since our country’s independence, private mass media outlets demonstrated their ability to be in partnership with the government. Those outlets have proven that they employ the country’s patriots”, Mister Matayev concluded.