On July 11, Akhmetov announced the forced transfer of all assets of the Media Group Ukraine holding in favor of the state. In particular, we are talking about one of the largest TV channels "TRK Ukraine" and "Ukraine 24". According to the businessman, the decision was dictated by the entry into force of the law "On the prevention of threats to national security associated with the excessive influence of persons with significant economic and political weight in public life (oligarchs)".

On Thursday, July 21, it became known that the licenses of TV channels, in particular "Ukraine" and "Ukraine 24", were canceled, broadcasting would stop the next day. TV presenter of the Freedom channel Yevgeny Kiselev told The Insider that July 21 is the last day of the channel and he does not have time to comment due to the large amount of work.

As an employee of the SCM group of companies explained to The Insider, the management of TV channels is one of two points that endow Akhmetov with the definition of an “oligarch” in Ukrainian jurisdiction. The second point is “influence on politics”. Akhmetov's influence on politics was expressed in the fact that he is one of the shareholders of Metinvest, the second shareholder is Vadim Novinsky. The latter was a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the 9th convocation from the Opposition Bloc political party as its member in the 57th district (the city of Mariupol, Donetsk region). On July 6, he resigned his mandate, therefore, with the exit from Media Group Ukraine, Rinat Akhmetov ceased to be considered an oligarch, this status was automatically canceled, the source says.

“This is a very painful decision. Akhmetov created TV for 20 years. From a regional channel he made the main national channel, the most popular, the best in the country with the best presenters. The key reason why Akhmetov left the media business is that when you get on the list of oligarchs, you become toxic, a handshake, and businesses cannot have access to the external capital market. That is, we will not be able to service our debts, our loans, our Eurobonds, and so on.”

The company of Akhmetov and Novinsky Metinvest has been actively using access to the capital market for 15 years, the source explains. She was credited there by a consortium of international banks, issued Eurobonds. “We have borrowed a lot of money from foreign markets, it is billions of dollars. Now it's about the survival of the business. You will not be able to borrow new money, you will not be able to service and restructure loans, the company will become North Korea in the corporate market.”

According to a former employee of the administration of ex-president Petro Poroshenko, it was fears for capital that prompted Akhmetov to close his TV channels and other, smaller media in the country.

“Apparently, he made a decision that will allow him to stay afloat. He lost his business in Mariupol, he has no profit. A person lives by concept. Everything was taken away from him, and he does not need this media group now. This is not Zelensky's desire to close the channel, it was beneficial for Akhmetov to close it. It worked normally, “Ukraine 24” was left in the slot of a single telethon <UArazom telethon was created after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Akhmetov’s channel began broadcasting after the businessman’s statement about the transfer of assets to the state - The Insider>. That is, Akhmetov agreed, and everything was in order. But the channel spent one and a half million dollars a month.”

The interlocutor also confirmed the words of The Insider's source from SCM that the businessman is transferring media assets to Europe from the legal field of Ukraine, the TV channels have already received licenses to broadcast in the Baltic States and Poland. In fact, Akhmetov slammed the door beautifully, the source says, because now the shadow of the censor has fallen on Zelensky.

According to the Ukrainian media manager, former director general of the National Television Company of Ukraine Zurab Alasania, there are conventionally five media groups in Ukraine, but since the beginning of the war, their work has changed - a single telethon was created, and everyone's plans for television broadcasting actually merged into one. Considering that the owners of large media groups are somehow forced to seek a compromise with the current government, large media cannot be called truly independent. Alasania notes that freedom of speech in Ukraine is achieved rather through a large number of small media outlets. Therefore, the closure of major TV channels, albeit possibly temporary, will not affect the information field of the country.

Alasania also recalled the sudden informational stuffing that appeared on the eve of the announcement of the deprivation of licenses for Akhmetov's TV channels. We are talking about the message that President Zelensky signed a secret decree on the deprivation of citizenship of businessmen Igor Kolomoisky and Gennady Korban. Both are now, in fact, becoming the most influential people in the Ukrainian media market. However, Alasania could not answer the question why this stuffing was needed.

“The injection of clean water, which, nevertheless, stirred up the water in the market,” says Alasania. - This is an internal Ukrainian policy, although, of course, the hand of Moscow, the so-called, is often present in it. Sometimes Russians, Russian propaganda use ready-made pretexts that Ukrainians willingly throw inside themselves, being a free nation and not embarrassed in internal expressions. It is hardly possible to give a more precise answer."