OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2014. At today's cabinet meeting, the Government discussed the creation of a Russian-language TV station and decided to support the project. Prior to final confirmation, the ministries of finance and culture will have to allocate the required resources.

The Government has listened to the vision of Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) in regard to establishing the TV channel and proposals about the programme content. Three versions were presented to the Government regarding the volume and cost of the TV programme; it was decided to proceed with the version that involved annual costs of about 4 million Euro.

The Government is supporting the creation of the TV channel, but the ministers of finance and culture will now have to allocate the budget means for establishing and operating the channel.

Discussions on establishing the Russian-language TV channel will continue in the near future.

According to the plan presented by the Ministry of Culture and ERR, the channel will be established on the principle that all groups in society must have access to a high quality, balanced TV programme that reflects Estonia's life and culture. The channel to be created will be independent and mostly aimed at the Russian-speaking target audience.

At a meeting of the Government on 18 September, the creation of a Russian-language TV programme in Estonian Public Broadcasting was discussed. The cabinet supported the continuation of the preparations for the channel from September 2015, and it asked ERR to present both a concept and analysis for the channel on 20 November.