DOCUMENT Who are the owners of Romania’s big news TV channels: Antena 3, RTV, Digi24, Realitatea and B1 TV

The list of the shareholders of the companies that own the broadcasting licences (radio and TV stations) was published following a DNA decision of 18 October. Below are the shareholders of the main news TV stations in Romania, according to the CNA.on Thursday, the National Audiovisual Council (CNA) published on its website

REALITY PLUS

The holder of the audiovisual licenses is the company GEOPOL INTERNATIONAL SRL, whose associates are: Bertalan Păcuraru Alexandra Beatrice (daughter of businessman Maricel Păcuraru) – 99.75% and the Foundation „Maricel Păcuraru Alături de Tine” (founding member Păcuraru Ionuț Maricel) – 0.25%.

The Board of Directors of „Maricel Păcuraru Alături de Tine” Foundation: Păcuraru Daniela Madi – President, Păcuraru Ionuț Maricel – Vice-President, Antonescu Alina Maria – Secretary.

Maricel Păcuraru is a controversial businessman. He served a prison sentence after being sentenced in November 2014 to 4 years in prison in the Romanian Post Office case, with damages of over four million euros, in which he was accused of complicity in abuse of service against public interests. Păcuraru was released from Poarta Albă in January 2017 after serving 815 days of his 1,460-day sentence.

ANTENA 3

The holder of the audiovisual licences is ANTENA 3 SA, whose shareholders are: Voiculescu Camelia Rodica – 40.622881%, Voiculescu Corina Mirela – 36.341102%, Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania (founding member and president – Dan Voiculescu) – 13.036017% and Gîdea Emanuel Mihai – 10%.

Camelia and Corina Voiculescu are the daughters of Dan Voiculescu, the founder of the station, who was also sentenced to 10 years in prison in the case of the fraudulent privatisation of the Food Research Institute, but was released after three years.

Mihai Gîdea is Antena 3’s main producer and director.

ROMANIA TV

The holder of the audiovisual license is the company RIDZONE COMPUTERS SRL, whose sole partner is Catrinel Maria Gheorghe. The station was founded in 2011 by Sebastian Ghiță, who fled to Serbia to avoid arrest in a corruption case. RTV was launched in 2011, after part of the Realitatea TV team left with the new channel, which for a time had Sebstian Ghiță as its manager.

In 2015, RTV Sattelite left the ownership of the station and Catrinel Gheorghe, who until then was just a manager, joined. In 2016 Catrinel Maria Gheorghe became the sole shareholder, taking over the 4% held by Radu Mihai Tronaru, according to PaginadeMedia.ro.

According to Mediafax, she has been working with the current RTV team for several years. In the past, she reportedly worked at 360 Revolution SRL, a company specializing in event organization and equipment rental. 360 Revolution SRL was reportedly also controlled by Sebastian Ghiță.

B1 TV

The holder of the broadcasting licenses is B1 TV CHANNEL SRL, whose partners are: Oancea Sorin – 50% and Păunescu Gheorghe Constantin – 50%.

Sorin Oancea is a media man and was in the past a minority partner with Dan Voiculescu in his media empire. Gheorghe Constantin Păunescu is a businessman who held several positions in the Ministry of Foreign Trade under Nicolae Ceaușescu, including director of the import-export section and director of the foreign exchange section.

DIGI 24

The main shareholder is businessman Teszari Zoltan, who controls the RCS RDS telecom empire and also has a business in energy.

According to CNA, the holder of the audiovisual license is CAMPUS MEDIA TV SRL, whose shareholders are RCS & RDS SA – 90% and Integrasoft SRL – 10%. The sole partner of Integrasoft SRL is RCS & RDS SA.

Shareholders of RCS & RDS SA: Digi Communications N.V. – 93.575518%, List of associates individuals – 6.42443% and List of associates legal entities – 0.000052%.

Shareholders of Digi Communications N.V. (registered office in the Netherlands and tax office in Romania – listed on the stock exchange): RCS Management SA (Class A shares) – 57.8666%, Shareholders – Class B shares – 35.4440%, Digi Communications N.V. (Class A shares) – 4.4093%, Teszari Zoltan (Class A shares) – 2.2801%.

Shareholders of RCS Management SA: Teszari Zoltan – 78.3851%, Digi Communications N.V. – 10%, Bugarszki Sfetozar – 4.5871%, Patap Mihai – 3.6944% and Docea Maria – 3.3333%.

You can see the full list here. 

Translated by Ovidiu H.