Romanian TV station OTV goes insolvent after receiving harshest audiovisual penalty

Romanian TV station OTV, owned by businessman Dan Diaconescu, went insolvent after the Bucharest Court approved Wednesday ( March 28 ) the request of Mamitzu Production SRL. According to data published on the court’s website, in November 2011, Mamitzu Production SRL requested the Bucharest Court to start the insolvency procedures for the company Ocram Televiziune SRL, which holds OTV’s audiovisual license. Romanian businessman Dan Diaconescu is the main shareholder in Ocram Televiziune - with 80.1 percent, while GMG Media Box SA holds the rest of 19.9 percent. The court also decided to temporarily name ACSIS SOLV IPURL as judicial administrator for a monthly retribution of RON 2,000, without VAT, shows the data on the court’s website. This decision comes soon after the National Audiovisual Council in Romania (CNA) canceled the audiovisual license for TV station OTV, as the TV station continuously runs political advertising for the party Partidul Poporului (the People's Party), created and run by the OTV founder Dan Diaconescu. The TV station will only be allowed to broadcast until September 28 this year. Its license would have expired on April 1, 2013. This is the harshest penalty the CNA is able to apply. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com