Four Russian TV Channels Allowed To Broadcast In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting has granted four Russian TV channels permission to broadcast in the country, the council said Wednesday.
The channels allowed to broadcast are Zoopark, Ocean-TV, Feniks + Cinema and Topshop TV.Broadcasting by foreign channels whose programs had not been adapted to Ukrainian laws, including Russia's Channel One, RTR-Planeta, Ren-TV and TVts International, was suspended on November 1, 2008.Channel One and Ren-TV have since been granted temporary permission to broadcast. More than 10 other Russian TV channels were also granted permission to begin work last December.It was also reported that Ukraine's objections related mainly to advertising aired by the channels. The Ukrainian distributors of certain channels were ordered to bring the broadcasts in line with Ukrainian laws.Language has been a contentious issue in relations between Russia and Ukraine, where some political groups have opposed the "Russification" of the country.Russian is still widely spoken in Ukraine, especially in the east, the Crimea and the capital. Many people in the former Soviet republic people have never learnt to speak Ukrainian