RFE/RL Ukrainian Broadcasts To Be Distributed Nationwide On Nashe Radio Network

(Washington, DC–July 18, 2005) Starting today, programs produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Ukrainian Service, known locally as Radio Svoboda, will again be distributed nationwide in Ukraine. Radio Svoboda’s partner in the venture is Nashe Radio, one of Ukraine’s preeminent radio networks with 29 FM transmitters covering all of the major population centers in Ukraine. Under the terms of the partnership, four specially-prepared five-minute Radio Svoboda news analysis programs will be broadcast by Nashe Radio at 2:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:30PM and 6:30PM local time (UTC+3).

RFE/RL President Thomas A. Dine welcomed the agreement enthusiastically, in a letter sent to Nashe Radio General Manager Bogdan Kozachenko on July 5. Dine wrote, “Our partnership with Nashe Radio represents an important moment for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — with this joint venture we will define a new kind of radio programming and format for Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service. My colleagues and I are already preparing to meet this challenge with rigor and enthusiasm.”

Nashe Radio (http://www.nasheradio.ua/) programming is entertainment-oriented, focused on Ukrainian and Russian-language pop music with a significant news component in the Ukrainian language. In order to add a new dimension to Nashe Radio’s news and information programming, a dedicated team of Radio Svoboda broadcasters based in Nashe Radio’s studios in Kyiv will produce the four program segments every Monday through Friday. The programs, which will develop a single theme throughout the day, will address a wide range of topics on Ukrainian themes that cover all aspects of life of interest and concern to Nashe Radio listeners, according to RFE/RL Associate Director of Broadcasting Frank Williams.

RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service broadcasts nearly 7 hours of programming a day Monday through Friday, and 3 hours every Saturday and Sunday, with programs produced in Prague and the service’s Kyiv Bureau and transmitted to listeners via shortwave, satellite and AM and FM signals provided by local affiliate stations in Ukraine. Ukrainian Service programming is also available via the Internet, at the service’s website www.radiosvoboda.org and at www.rferl.org.