The RJR spoke about the problems of radio stations due to sanctions

MOSCOW, Feb 13 – PRIME. There is no mass closure of radio stations in Russia, however, there are problems with spare parts for hardware due to sanctions, but these problems can be solved with the help of parallel imports, Vladimir Solovyov, head of the Union of Journalists of Russia, told RIA Novosti on the eve of World Radio Day. 

World Radio Day is celebrated annually on February 13, which was established in 2011 at the 36th session of the General Conference of UNESCO. A year later, this idea was approved by the UN Assembly. According to Roskomnadzor, which is at the disposal of RIA Novosti, the register of registered media contains information about 2395 radio channels.

“In general, of course, there are no sharp drops in the number of radio stations across the country now. It was during the covid epidemic, when several radio stations were closed,” Solovyov said.

According to him, there are problems with spare parts for hardware due to sanctions, but “the Russian people are smart and are looking for a way out in different ways, for example, through parallel imports.”

Member of the Board of the Russian Academy of Radio (RAR) Foundation, Deputy General Director of Gazprom-Media Holding Yulia Golubeva also believes that the sanctions have complicated the process of supplying some equipment for broadcasting, but the sanctions do not have any critical effect on the existence of the Russian radio industry.

“As for state support for the industry, we see the need to refine advertising legislation, for example, with regard to disclaimers when placing advertisements for financial and medical services,” Golubeva noted.

Also, in her opinion, it may be necessary to regulate the number of commercial non-state radio channels in each specific region and reduce them depending on the volume of the advertising market.