At the end of 2024, the European Commission criticized the Ukrainian telethon "Unified News," expressing doubts about its objectivity and the appropriateness of budget funding.
And not without reason, writes "Detector Media": according to a USAID-Internews survey, 86% of Ukrainians are aware of the telethon, but only 47% actually watch it, and only a third of those trust it.
Nevertheless, funding for telethons continues. In 2024, 843 million UAH was allocated for their production, with 699 million going to "Unified News" and 144 million to "FreeDom." The previous year, nearly the same amount was spent – 842 million UAH.
Who received the funding?
State contracts for producing telethons were distributed among major TV channels and companies:
- 190 million UAH – the company "We Are Ukraine" (a channel that emerged after the departure of Akhmetov's media holding).
- 190 million UAH – ICTV channel (owned by Viktor Pinchuk).
- 170 million UAH – "Inter" channel (Dmytro Firtash).
- 139 million UAH – "1+1" (Studio 1+1 and 1+1 Production).
- 105 million UAH – "Kinokit" company, associated with former Deputy Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Tymoshenko (according to Bihus.Info journalists).
What about entertainment programs?
At the same time, content for the "Dom" channel is also being funded. In 2024, 17.6 million UAH was allocated for this (half of what was spent in 2023). The most expensive project was the program "Morning at Home," which cost 11.3 million UAH.
In 2023, the Ministry of Culture launched the media platform The Gaze to inform foreigners about Ukraine. This initiative cost 43.6 million UAH. In 2024, expenses were sharply reduced to just 3.3 million UAH.
The budget was spent on creating four projects:
- "Foreigners Help Ukraine"
- "AI Prompt: Ukraine"
- "How to Create Beauty from Military Items"
- "War Economy"
The main amounts were received by two contractors:
- 1.7 million UAH – entrepreneur Dmytro Kysilevych, who created "AI Prompt: Ukraine" and "War Economy."
- 1.6 million UAH – Maxym Yatsenko, who previously worked in taxi services, sold medical equipment, and conducted social surveys, and now works for the media platform. He created "Foreigners Help Ukraine" and "How to Create Beauty from Military Items."
What is the result?
The YouTube channel The Gaze has gained 37.6 thousand subscribers and 8.4 million views. However, most videos garner only a few hundred views, raising questions about the effectiveness of such a project.