Kosovars to pay double for RTK

Aside from the 2.5-euro pay-per-month budget, Kosovo taxpayers' budget is set to split in the following year, even 0.4 per cent for Kosovo Radio Television.

This is after the new bill, which the Commission for Public Administration, Local Governance and Media has forwarded to Government on Wednesday, envisions these two forms of financing, as well as other ways through marketing and other services, Koha Ditore writes today.

This will cause the television budget to rise by 85 percent. This is as through the 2.5m-euro monthly prepaid, around 14m euros, from the state budget of over 8m euros, as well as 2.5m euros from marketing. Public television, which has been charged several times by civil society and opposition parties for bias, about power and mismanagement, will have a 24.5m-euro budget, or 11m more than it has with current law.

In the bill provided by the paper, it is envisioned for the general director to have a 5-year mandate, and with the possibility of unlimited re-election. That was rejected by civil society, but not taken into account by the parliamentary commission. The bill has not even reduced the number of members of the Board of 11 people, and it has removed the payment for license, which RTK was obliged to pay to the Independent Commission for Media.