"Since the closure of A1+ Company the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has raised the issue of the embattled company in all its resolutions but to date the company is deprived of air," said ex head of the Armenian delegation to PACE Tigran Torosyan.
"Unfortunately, a law was passed on suspending tenders for broadcast licenses in Armenia. Resumption of tenders will be the first good news for the company which will enable A1+ to bid for a broadcasting license," he added.
Tenders on broadcast licensing were stopped in 2008 while A1+ was closed down in 2002. Why wasn't A1+ reopened and why weren't the recommendations of PACE resolutions met by then?
In reply to A1+'s questions Mr. Torosyan said: "I am sorry but whatever you say has nothing to do with the reality. Tenders are held by a special body. The National Assembly did not pass a law on stopping broadcast tenders. It was simply decided that the country should switch to digitalization. Secondly, I personally sent the Law on Television and Radio to a further examination. The bill was proposed by the opposition; hence the drawbacks could not be ascribed to the authorities."
"The point is that the law was not put into force though the drawbacks were addressed during the examination," says Mr. Torosyan.
Asked whether A1+'s closure was politically motivated, Tigran Torosyan said: "I think that the closure was not grounded. The quality of the company's programmes was incomparable with the rival company which won the broadcasting frequency. I think you had better address the question to the commission which made a decision of closing A1+."
Source: The Armenian News by A1+
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