OREANDA-NEWS. April 28, 2012. Russia’s leading independent media company CTC Media (NASDAQ: CTCM) has announced the signing of an agreement with the Evropa-Aziya (Europe-Asia) television and radio company, envisaging broadcasting of the CTC-International channel in Kyrgyzstan, reported the press-centre of CTC-International.

CTC-International is currently available to viewers in the U.S. and Israel, as well as in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa through the Hot Bird satellite.

Boris Podolsky, CTC Media’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer: “With the population of 5.5 million people, Kyrgyzstan is currently the second country in Central Asia where CTC-International is available. Furthermore, Kyrgyzstan is the only country where CTC-International is broadcast over the air; elsewhere the channel is only available on cable and satellite networks. Evropa-Aziya will be in charge of advertising sales, which will commence from the moment the channel is launched.”

Marat Devlet-Kildeyev, CTC Media’s Head of International Broadcasting: “We have intended to broadcast in Kyrgyzstan for a long time, especially given the long historical and cultural ties between our countries. Television and radio company Evropa-Aziya, with whom we signed the partnership agreement, has operated in Kyrgyzstan for more than 10 years. The channel is currently available to 25% of the country’s population, and the technical penetration will increase in the future. We hope that Kyrgyz viewers will appreciate the best CTC, Domashny, and Peretz shows, which make up the programming grid of the international version.”

Aider Bekirov, Evropa-Aziya’s Chief Executive Officer: “We hope that cooperation with such a serious partner as CTC Media will be fruitful and mutually beneficial. Given the experience of this internationally recognized company, we are confident that the Kyrgyz market has been given a kick start for future development, and we have made yet another step on the path to the hearts of Kyrgyz TV viewers.”