Romania postpones tax on cable companies

The Romanian Government has postponed the project to build an audiovisual fund financed from a new tax on cable companies. The Government initially planned to have cable and satellite TV companies contribute 5% of their revenues to this new fund that was supposed to help TV stations which broadcasted educational and cultural programs. The tax should have been enforced starting July 1, 2015. But telecom operators reacted negatively to this new tax, saying that the Government hadn’t consulted them on the project, reports local Digi24. They said that the new tax disrupted the market and that the use of the funds wasn’t transparent. Communications minister Sorin Grindeanu said on June 10 that the Government decided to postpone the project after talks with the telecom companies. A few hours later, the Government approved a EUR 15 million state aid for the TV stations that produce and broadcast informative, educational and cultural content of public interest. The executive didn’t specify which TV stations will get the state aid, but it is likely that most of the money will go to news televisions. Romania currently has five news TV stations, more than France and Germany. editor@romania-insider.com