force: Plahotniuc owns four out of five TV stations with nationwide coverage, as well as three radio stations.

There were further revelations, too: LDP member of parliament Chiril Luchinschi stated that he was the owner of two TV stations, TV 7 and TNT Bravo. Likewise, it was revealed that RTR Moldova, Ren TV Moldova and Accent TV are all owned by Russian companies. Jurnal TV is owned by Victor Țopa, a Moldovan businessman who run his business in Germany, while the final beneficiary of Pro TV is American billionaire Ronald Lauder.

The fact that seven broadcast licenses can owned by a single person (namely Vlad Plahotniuc) seriously affects pluralism of opinion in Moldova. Vitalie Călugăreanu, a freelance journalist and correspondent for Deutsche Welle, remarks that this ownership structure can easilyregion of Gagauzia, the pro-Russian candidate Irina Vlah won elections for Bashkan (local governor) in March 2015. Russian TV stations gave Vlah’s campaign positive coverage, to the desired effect.

In a survey conducted by the Independent Journalism Center in October 2015, Russian media was trusted by 46% of respondents. However, Russian media was also thought to have more severe professional problems and to be the second most manipulative (after domestic Moldovan media). Russia was seen by 40% of respondents as a guarantor of peace and stability, compared to 21% who saw it as a destabilising influence.

Interestingly, 80% of those who saw Russia a peacekeeper and 58% of those who believed that US, rather than Russia, was a destabilising factor were ethnic minorities.

Kremlivision

The Moldovan authorities have started taking steps to