Russia Limits Expat Numbers In Telecasting

On Wednesday the Federation Council (the upper chamber of Russian parliament) approved the making of amendments to the law On the Mass Media. Valeri Sudarenkov, chairman of the Federation Council committee for culture, explained that this law envisages alterations to be made in the media law, banning foreigners to have in excess of 50 percent of the capital of organisations doing telecasting. Expats have to pass their shares to Russian nationals. The Federation Council-approved law specifies that this norm does not go for telecasting organisations which were registered and set to before August 4, 2001.