Last week a delegation from CIRCOM Regional visited Ukraine to find out how CIRCOM can assist Ukrainian regions on their way from a state television to a democratic public service broadcaster according to European standards. The delegation was invited by the Council of Europe which arranged a half day conference for the regions and CIRCOM Regional. The experts also visited two of the 24 Ukrainian regions, in Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava, to find out what are explicit training needs in the regions.

Ukraine television is in a poor state after decades of under-financing and close ties to a regional government. The law on PSB (Public Service Broadcasting) in Ukraine was publicly signed by President Petro Porošenko in April 2015. The complicated operation, bringing together existing separate radio and TV centres, the TV channel Kultura and the National Film Center, is under way. Today's national television company NTU will be replaced by the new NPBU.

CIRCOM Regional started a pilot project in June 2015 with a goal to find out if the association can assist in the same way we have done in other "new democracies", and the expert group from CIRCOM Regional identified a need and demand of training for managers and journalists. Ulf Morten Davidsen, project manager on the Ukraine Project, was accompanied by Jean-Marc Dubois, president of CIRCOM Regional, David Lowen, president of Prix CIRCOM, training expert Karol Cioma and Executive Committee member Nikki O'Donnel.

Discover more in Karol Cioma's MoJo report: