Today, the Chairman of the Independent Media Commission, Mr. Jeton Mehmeti, and the Director of the Business Registration Agency, Mrs. Lebibe Haliti have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at increasing transparency in media ownership.
According to this agreement, ARBK will ask commercial companies that have a license from the IMC to provide evidence of the prior approval of the change of ownership approved by the IMC in the case of a change of ownership.
According to the Regulation on Ownership and Concentration of IMC Licensees (IMC-2023/03), licensees are obliged to obtain prior written approval from IMC for any change of ownership or shares.
During 2023, as well as in 2024, IMC has faced the issue of changes in ownership of IMC licensees without prior written approval from IMC, as required by the IMC Law and bylaws. IMC has identified 35 cases where the licensees have made ownership changes by changing the data in the business register in ARBK without the approval of IMC.
In relation to this situation, the IMC has treated all identified cases of changes in ownership as a violation of license conditions by imposing sanctioning measures totaling 58,000 euros, and obliging them to submit all the necessary documentation within a short period of time for these changes.
Therefore, the cooperation agreement with ARBK aims to regulate the issue of ownership of licensees, ensuring full transparency of media ownership and avoiding the need for imposing sanctions in the future.